


The Cost

by GhostWriter2021



Series: And the Heroes that Messed with Time [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2020-06-23 13:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostWriter2021/pseuds/GhostWriter2021
Summary: There will always be a cost for achieving anything in life, and this is especially true for war. Sometimes when all is said and done, we find that the price paid was too high. That too much was lost, and therefore the victory is a hollow one, so what do you do when that's the case. Most people would say morn or wallow in guilt and depression, but they're shinobi, and one of them is the world's most unpredictable ninja, so when the cost is too high, their solution is to try again. Now the only question is what price are they're willing to pay for a do-over, and once the dust has settled, how much did it cost them to try again.





	1. The Hidden Clan

**Author's Note:**

> This work is my first try at Fanfiction, and it has not been beta tested so please have mercy in your comments, but know that any tips you can give will be appreciated. I write because I can, and I have a story to tell, so I hope you all enjoy my foray into Fanfiction. Please note that additional tags may be added later.

The conversation now being held across the tea table in the most secure room on the island began with only eight words. The words made up a question that now had an essential member of one of the worlds most reclusive clans sitting across the table from the man who had spoken them upon arriving on the island. Once situated in the room, the man had repeated the same inocent sounding words to the Woman who had no doubt already heard them form a messenger. They were as good a way to start the conversation as any so he asked, "What can you tell me about time travel" and the air in the room instantly froze over as a thick silence took root.

The Woman was not amused as she stared down the man across from her. He had come from Konohagakure which she knew from experience was well over a months travel from here at top speed for most ninjas. That and to get here requires a person to have massive chakra reserves and or extraordinarily precise control over one's chakra. There is an ocean between here and the nearest island that can only crossable by walking on water. Taking a boat across that ocean is a guaranteed way to show up in pieces on the shore. "Time travel," the Woman mussed allowed, "was whatever happened that bad?" she asked in a deceptively light tone. The look the man gave her served to confirm that it was, in fact, that bad. She sighed part in exasperation and part in exhaustion, time travel always gives her a headache, and it's never something to mess with lightly. Internally she thanked whichever god was listening that the man came to find her first before doing something dumb that she would end up responsible for anyway. Thinking of that, how did he know to find me, the Woman thought. She decided it was probably best to ask him instead of trying to find it out herself. "How do you know where to find us, and why did you decide to come to us with your time travel problem?" She asked.

"I am close friends with an Uzumaki and the Hokage. I am here representing the shinobi alliance, which includes them. I was the only one that had the time to take such a long trip without consequences, or you might have had a larger audience." The man answered.

She internally added 'man of few words' to her mental profile of him before asking, "roughly how many people do you represent?"

"At least fifty individuals of a high enough rank in their country to act as a representative for their country with there being a least one person from each of the nations on the mainland." He answered in a flat voice as if he didn't represent hundreds of thousands of people.

She took a sip of her tea as she composed herself muttering under her breath about how she should have known something had gone terribly wrong when they had to block a genjutsu coming off of the moon before letting out another sigh. "I will leave with you for Konohagakure tomorrow so go ahead and send a message to your people. I will have a room prepared for you so rest well tonight. Please note that I will want to meet with the fifty some odd representatives you spoke of as soon as we arrive." She then proceeded to finish her tea, ignoring the blank look the man is giving her in an effort to cover up his shock on how easy it had been to get her support. She rose from her seat and headed out to pack for a long trip and the possibility of time travel, but just before she left the room, she decided to through a parting comment over her shoulder. "You best hope that neither of us comes to regret this. My clans Kekkei Genkai is unique, and our existence is well hidden. We only act when a situation is truly desperate. I hate to be the one to say this, but I hope you are desperate because calling on us is a drastic measure.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took the pair one month, two weeks, four days and eight hours to get from the forgotten island to the gate of Konohagakure and when they arrived there was a welcome party made up of a majority of the worlds strongest shinobi waiting for them. 

The Woman was not tall, falling somewhere near 153 cm (~5ft) in height, with curly brown hair that's held back in a single ponytail. Her eyes are hazel but appear to glent of gold and emeralds in the suns dying light, and she looked to be in her mid-twenties, but looks can be deceiving. She wears a dark ensemble with black shinobi pants; a dark grey fitted shirt with a black jacket thrown over it. Along with the standard shinobi, armaments carries a katana at her side. Overall she looked downright dangerous and fit in perfectly with the crowd gathered at the gate with her aura of relaxed power and authority. The illusion broke; however when she touched down in front of the gathered shinobi sprouting a less than genuine smile and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Tatakai Kyasarin of the Wasureta clan, are you the fools that want to screw with time." She said with an eerie grin never falling from her face.

Naruto is the first to speak up and breaks the shock-induced silence by stepping out and flashing the newly arrived Woman an equally dazzling but far more genuine grin and answering bluntly, "Yup! I am most certainly one of those fools." with one hand scratching his head and the other held out in front of him sporting the victory sign. The Woman's companion gave a long-suffering sigh while two women one with pink hair and another with blond smacked him upside the head and the intimidating atmosphere dissipates.

The eerie smile drops from the Woman's face with the open admission, and instead, a look of complete seriousness takes over her features. "I assume you have a room where we can all sit down and talk. Preferably one with many security seals and no Anbu lurking in the shadows." She states bringing the crowds attention back to her.

The man at the head of the crowd who has remarkably spiky silver hair simply nods in agreement, and she sighs before saying, "lead on" while motioning with her hand. Turn around and lead he did, and the group of overly powerful shinobi followed the man thru the gates and into the village.

The room they made their way to is large, has no windows, is filled to maximum capacity by the gathered shinobi and lacking the usual Anbu presence. Once everyone has settled the Woman, Tatakai Kyasarin, begins the meeting by addressing the whole room while speaking to no one in particular. "When I was young, my father would always lecture us on how a person must always consider the consequences of their action before taking any. He told my siblings and me that the best way to do so was to ask yourself what it will cost you before you take any dramatic actions and then to evaluate the consequence afterward by asking what the action did cost in the end. In that spirit, I would like to begin this meeting with a question for the room as a whole. On my way here Sasuke informed me of the war and precisely why you might want to go back in time, but I need a clear answer on this from all of you before we go any further. What did it cost? What made you decided that you had lost too much and that time travel, of all things, was the best option instead of making do with what you have left."

Her question hangs in the air for a long time while the gathered shinobi contemplated and assembled their answers. Finally, Tsunade, with a heavy sigh behind her words, answeres: "the lives of more than sixty thousand shinobi and samurai not counting the civilians."

Kyasarin became glad for the introductions she had gotten on the walk over when Kakashi continued from that thought looking rather tired and without bothering to introduce himself, saying "the innocence of youth."

Keeping with the pattern Gaara, the Kazekage, answered "The fertility of large swaths of land across the entire continent."

"The ability to secure ourselves against any further threats" is Ay's, the Raikage, contribution.

"The balance of power," Shikamaru said in a voice so soft the comment nearly fails to garner attention, but instead every head turned toward him, and he sighs as he is forced to elaborate. "The world itself has been thrown off balance. There is far too much chakra floating around, and although we may no longer fight amongst ourselves your existence," he says rather pointedly while staring down Tatakai Kyasarin, "proves that there are others out there and as Ay mentioned earlier. We lack the personnel to defend ourselves or keep order within our borders, hence the balance of power." The Nara enumerated.

The room is deathly quiet now that Shikamaru said his piece since most everyone has something new to chew on. Realizing that the conversation had reached its end for the foreseeable future and deciding that there is enough justification for moving forward, Kyasarin lets out a breath and says, "Okay, then that is where we begin."

"Am I right in assuming the next question you're planning on asking is what cost we are willing to pay?" Mei, the Mizukage, asks before Kyasarin can continue.

"Yes and no," She answers. "Yes, it is the next important question to address, but no now is not the time to address it. Now is the time that I tell you about time travel so that you can better understand what you're getting into and which changes you might want to make. I am assuming that at the very least you would like to avoid the fourth shinobi war."

"Yes," was the resounding reply that came from every occupant in the room.

"Then let's begin by helping you fools understand the intricacy of time travel," Kyasarin states with false enthusiasm and a smile that is marginally less faked then the one she greeted them with.


	2. The Road We Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much ado about time travel and the consequences thereof. Would you like to choose option A, B, or C for your first attempt to screw with time? Make sure you chose wisely. How shale you transverse time and who do you send?

Kyasarin Tatakai has the attention of the entire room; all eyes present are focused exclusively on her. All ears are straining to make sure they don't miss a word of what she will say next, and none of them are acknowledging the insult she just dished out. Her grin covers up her equally fake confidence as she contemplates how best to explain time travel to this room ninja without losing anyone in the explanation. She decides it's best to go with the old mantra KISS, keep it simple stupid and forges ahead. 

"My clan, the Wasureta, specializes in time-space and dimensional transit jutsus, which somewhat surprisingly is not an inherent trait of our Kekkei Genkai. Our Kekkei Genkai only makes us sensitive to the manipulation of time and space as well as the natural workings of the world. Every member of my clan is a natural-born sensor and this sensitivity is why we have spent an inordinate amount of time learning about time-space manipulation and dimensional travel, as well as why none of you need to inform me that a pseudo-god-like chakra entity appeared and then disappeared during the war, which I hope implies their defeat. If I may ask by a show of hands how many of you know of my clan and then can at least one of you answer what you know about it?"

Very few hands went up in the crowd of ninja, and it was notable that the raised hands only belonged to shinobi of Konoha. Mei explained this information bias in answer to the question of Kyasarin rising eyebrow. "In the last Kage summit, the matter of time travel came up, and we decided that we would all do independent research on the subject and get back to each other if we had a significant breakthrough; otherwise the gathered information would be presented at the next summit. All the Hokage told me was that they had found an expert on time travel and if I wanted to meet them, we should be at Konohagakure when they arrived."

Kyasarin turned her gaze to look rather pointedly at the shinobi of the leaf, which made up a majority of the population of the room this being there home town, where only six of them had there had raised. With a venomous smile, she asked, "Who would like to share with the class" her voice dripping with sarcasm. Her eyes seemed to be saying that the only reason she would not chew them out for making her life harder is that their action was probably a result of some misplaced belief that it was their duty to protect her clan's privacy.

Tsunade recovered first and answered, "I believe you or at least one of your kin knew my grandfather. He ran across a Watsureta shinobi when the village was at the beginning of being formed. He heard them gripping about how bothersome it was to have to investigate a ripple in time that could be felt across an ocean. Being the man he was when he learned of their clan he offered them a place in the village after the shinobi had helped him fend off an attack from an unknown enemy. They replied that they couldn't leave their clan and that moving the entire clan was not a feasible option. They did, however, give him directions on how to find them in case his brother Tobirama accidentally got himself stranded somewhere with I quote 'that blasted technique of his that is equivalent to having a particularly irritating fly buzzing near your ear.' The person was no referring to him getting himself sent to an island but another dimension." She says that last bit in a deadpan voice to ensure that everyone gets the message.

"I found mentions of a clan that specialized in the manipulation of time and space for dimensional travel in some of my mom's things. It said that they lived across an ocean that could not be crossed by boats but by running full speed in a particular direction until one's chakra reserves where nearing empty it was possible to transverse. I believe that it was referring to people with the chakra reserves of an Uzumaki," Naruto adds helpfully.

"Please don't try to go there. You will most likely die. I ran full speed, and it took almost all of my chakra to make it there. I was bearly a breath away from chakra exhaustion when I arrived." Sasuke stated mildly.

"That sums up about all we know, which is why we sent Sasuke out to find this hidden clan. when we got a message back from him stating that he was headed this way with a member of the clan we immediately sent for you." Kakashi finishes.

Killer Bee raises his hand as if he is in class but doesn't wait to be called on before saying, "I got one question Yo, why can't this village be reached by boat?"

"You don't want to know," is Kyasarin immediate response as well as Sasuke and the shared response causes them to share a look. She raises an eyebrow in a silent question, and the look she gets in response tells her that he probably tried a boat at some time, which presented the new mystory of how he was still alive. The rest of the room stares at them in silent condemnation of the wordless conversation.

Kyasarin sighs before explaining, "most of my people have vast chakra reserves and a decent amount of control. It is easier to just run to the mainland then deal with the problem, and it keeps people from trying to find us. During the early part of the warring states period we used to be hunted because of a property of our Kekkei Genkai, so we prefer not to be found." Her comment about being hunted sits in the room like an elephant that no one wants to address, bringing a heavy silence with it.

"Sooooo, time travel," Ay says in a not to subtle attempt to change the subject.

"Ah, yes that," she says with a considerably lighter look on her face than the one that had occupied it before. "I am glad you decided to ask before doing anything reckless that we all might later regret. Screwing with time is a rather dangerous game that only experts should play. Plus it saves me the trouble of having to clean up any mess you might make in the process of attempting to time travel without guidance."

There is a lot of glowering happening in the room after those remarks, but no one can say she's wrong. None of the people present beside her are experts in time travel, and that is why they decided to ask her. She, for her part, blissfully ignores the looks she is receiving and soldiers on, "there are essentially three types of time-travel" she explains. "We refer to them in short-handed summary as abandoning, erasing, and unraveling. Depending on how far back you wish to go, how many people are going back with you, and who you want to save directly affects which one is the best to use. For example, if you're going to rescue your younger self, erasing is the best method to use."

"The first type, abandoning is where you jump back in time with your physical body through a trans-dimensional doorway; hence any changes you make won't technically affect your timeline, but you can modify one that is running parallel to yours and stop it from meeting with disaster. Abandoning is best for really long jumps back in time when there is nothing left of your universe to save. It can take about five to six people max, and you end up abandoning the dead world to go to one of the parallel universes to stop the first domino that leads to the coming disaster from ever falling, hence the name." she states with a voice that discourages any doubt in the truthfulness of her words.

"Not that one. We want to affect events in this universe, not save someone else." Sakura states rather aggressively, and her statement drawls noises of agreement from many of the other shinobi present.

"I am not implying what way you should use, just stating your options, although you are right that would not be my first choice in this situation either." She placates while vaguely looking irritated by the interruption.

"Option two, erasing, moves your physical body back in time through a temporal gateway that confines your travel to your universe." She says, continuing her explanation. "It allows you to go back to a time before you were born, but it takes the most chakra of the three methods. You can only send three to four people max, the furthest back you can go is approximately forty years, and it carries the highest amount of risk. The most significant risk when using this method is that if you are not careful, you may end up erasing yourself from existence. The best way to avoid stopping yourself from being born is to assume a new identity or become a ghost in the new world you make, altering what you will and then disappearing as if you never existed. It is overall the best method if one wants to prevent something just before they were born or that happened when they were an infant." This time she intentionally pauses her explanation and waits for any comments or questions to be made. 

After about thirty seconds without anything more substantial then looks of consideration and contemplation are thrown her way, she continues. "Lastly, you have unraveling. With unraveling, you take your memories and move them to your younger self on a chakra wave that acts across the temporal plane. It is the only one of the three methods that does not bring your physical body back, but in exchange, you don't need to make a new identity. The chakra wave works by unraveling time as it pushes your memories back to the body of your younger selves, so once you have arrived at your destination, there will be nothing to return to even if you make no alterations to any events. The time you live in now will cease to exist, and this future you occupy now will be whipped off the time-space continuum as if it never existed. The body you return to has a slight boost in the chakra reserves usually due to the nature of the transfer process, but it is not much, and all the work you have done to build up your body will never have happened. On the other hand, because you aren't sending back a physical body, it takes much less chakra, and you can move more people, up to twenty, back in time. I would like it noted that I can not send back the memories of the dead or of a person that is not present when I perform the Jutsu."

She pauses again this time to take a breath before continuing. "The method you decide on should depend on how far you want to go back, who you want to save, and how many people you want to send. The expert tip here is that the further back you go, and the more you change, the less predictable future events become. In simpletons terms, you must make your first move count."

She stops talking now that she has said her piece and sits quietly waiting. The room returns to the state of silence it occupied after Shikamaru's comment with everyone thinking there own thoughts. After a few minutes of this, Kyasarin decides they could probably use a kick start to there conversation and askes bluntly "who do you want to save?" She leaves off the harsher questions that implied by the question she has asked, like who do you let die? What price are you willing to pay to save those people? She believes that it is best they consider these questions on there own time, or she might not get a chance to leave the room before the dawning of the next day comes.

The question hangs in the air unanswered for a solid five minutes more of the nearly unbearable silence before Shikamaru finally answers. "At the very least I would like to save the shinobi that died in the fourth shinobi war."

"I agree with Shikamaru, but isn't the best way to do that to prevent the war from happening in the first place?" Gaara offers in response.

"How far would we need to go back to prevent the war?" Mei asks.

"We would need to go to a time before the Akatsuki got their undead army and hopefully before they have made to many of their Zetsu clones." Kakashi answers.

"So that puts us, at the very least, at a time before Kabuto lost his marbles and made the army of the dead," Sasuke concludes.

"It might be helpful to prevent as many jinchuuriki as possible from being captured so that the Akatsuki have less access to the power of the tailed beast and its harder for them to revive the ten tales," Naruto adds.

"When did he Akatsuki begin to move to capture the tailed beast and start to become a real problem?" Tsunade asks the room as a whole.

"I believe that was around the time that Orochimaru killed the third Hokage and fourth Kazekage in an attack on the leaf," Ay replies.

"So that would imply that we need to go back in time to some point just before that disaster that was our first chunnin exam," Sakura musses.

"But how far before," Choji counters.

"Not to through a pessimistic light on it all, but I have to ask, do you let the third Hokage and the fourth Kazekage die and the invasion succeed or do you try to save the lives of those shinobi as well?" Kyasarin throws in. It is a perceptive question and serves to halt the flow of the conversation and throw everybody but the rooms resident Nara off track.

"She's right," Shikamaru reflects after a short pause, "If we save the third it will cause huge ripples along the chain of events we know and cause us to have problems predicting future events. It is highly likely that saving the third will make it too hard to prevent the war. It may be necessary to let him die."

That morbid thought sends a cold shiver thru the room as everyone thinks of who else they might have to let die to prevent the war. Silence occupies the place again until Tsunade take a shaky breath and says in a firm voice, "Then we let him die."

A wave of shock ripples thru the room and Naruto begins to say "Bacc-chan.." before she brutally cuts him off.

"No, I am one of the last of his students and surviving family. I am the Hokage that succeeded him. I get to make this decision, and I say we let him die. We are trying to save the world from disaster, and if that means I have to watch my sensei die, then I will watch him die. At that point in time, he is already a war-weary old man, and it may be kinder to let him rest in peace than drag him into another war." Tsunade makes her point so thoroughly that no one else bothers to argue it out with her. They hear the strain in her voice, see the pain in her eyes and the death grip she has on her tea and lets that point in the conversation rest.

"We can let my father die too," Gaara says in a soft voice before silence again takes root in the space.

The silence holds until Kakashi breaks it by muttering mostly to himself, "so before the chunnin exam but we're letting the third die along with the Kazekage to preserve history. Then we certainly can't make any changes before then."

"That means that we should go to a point after the Uchiha massacre. If we are letting the third die to preserve history, then we are allowing my clan to die too." Sasuke mutters in response, taking Kakashi's musing as a direction for continuing the conversation. "It is my clan, and I am its last survivor so it's my choice and I chose to leave them to die."

This time there is no protest to the declaration, and since everyone seems to be holding their peace, Kyasarin decides it's her turn to contribute again. "I would say that about a year before the chunnin exams is the furthest you should go back then if that is where you wish to make your first alterations," she advises. "Now that we have a rough time interval, the next question is who do we send. We shouldn't decide on a date more specific until we have at least determined who will be going back. Please remember that we can only send twenty people max and that I need to go along, so that leaves nineteen spots. I would prefer it if the people going back are present in the room; otherwise, I will need to give the whole spiel again."

One would expect that a large number of people would immediately volunteer, but instead, the silence that had been present in the room beforehand becomes even thicker. After five minutes of this silent brooding, Kyasarin gives the conversation another nudge by saying, "I would suggest that you pick people who go thru a change in personality or a change in circumstance that could cause a shift in character during that time so that when their nature does change it is less likely to be questioned. I am not trying to doubt your skill at infiltration and acting, but if Gaara suddenly loses his bloodthirstiness for no apparent reason, people are going to ask questions."

"She has a point," the man in question says.

"Can you send the memory of different individuals back to different points in time," Shikamaru questions.

"No, but I can seal the memories so that they don't wake up until a particular event triggers their awakening. All I would need to do is give at least one person the key to unlock those memories. Gaara, for example, could have Naruto unlock his memories during the chunnin exam. If that fails, since I am coming with, I can release the memories myself. If you want to stager the time of the memories taking root, that will be your best option." Kyasarin answers.

"Then I have a suggestion, and I would appreciate it if those that don't like it hold their comments until I finish my explanation." Shikamaru continues before pausing to eye the room's resident loud mouths that might interrupt him and moving on in his speech. "At the very least we should send back Konoha's team seven. They are responsible for defeating Kaguya, and their abilities might be needed again if we fail. We can't risk not sending them. We should also send back Gaara, Naruto's sanity punch might have worked once, but if we are going back before the chunnin exams, I would rather not have to count on it working again. Finally, not to sound arrogant or anything, but I am arguably our best strategist so I should go back so any plan we make can be adjusted on the fly even if going back myself will be troublesome." He stops there at the end of his suggestion and looks around the room for any source of argument.

Miraculously there is none, and Mei takes advantage of the gap to add her suggestion saying, "I believe that Tsunade should also go back for similar reasons as with Gaara. I don't think we should count on Naruto's ability to fix her blood-related trama again, and we can't afford to be missing our best healer." Tsunade grimaces at that comment but lets the point stand.

Kyasarin uses the next gap to add, "I would advise sending whole teams back when possible. You spend a lot of time with your team, so they are the most likely to notice that something is wrong. If you're going back Shikamaru then it is best that Ino and Choji go with you, and if Gaara is going back, then it is best if Temari and Konkouro go back too. If we are sending Tsunade back, then the rest of the Kage's that are in power during the time before the war should return too. It would also be best if they go with their memories sealed until there is an opportune moment to awaken them like at a Kage summit. I can go ahead and rouse Tsunade myself so that her change appears to come from my arrival. That gives us a total of fourteen people, but since Ay is going back, we should probably send killer Bee back as well. That and jinchuuriki are a package deal. The host and Bijui chakras intertwine so you can send both of their memories back without adding to the count. That leaves room for another four-person team." It is now evident that she has probably been thinking of who to send back since Sasuke gave her the rundown of who would be present, but no one deigns to comment on the amount of thought she has put into this endeavor.

"So a four-man squad," Tsunade musses allowed before asking, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

The room is again caught in the grasp of silence before Mei makes a startling suggestion. "I don't have any intact teams from that time that would have any influence, but if my memory serves me right then, the other squad that graduated from the academy with team seven and Shikamaru's team should be intact. They had enough achievements during the war. Why don't we send them?"

"If I remember correctly, the chunnin exam we are referring to was the one just after their graduation, and their graduation could undoubtedly serve as a turning point for their personalities. It also falls right into our time window and would allow us to send eleven of you back without having to seal your memories." Kyasarin adds on without taking notice of the resulting shockwave that Mei's suggestion sent thru the room. "With that, most of the key players in your first point of change won't need to be woken up, and we have a solid plan to wake the remaining individuals."

After running it over in his mind, Shikamaru reflects, "That just might work," before looking the remaining three Kages in the eye and saying, "as long as you don't mind bringing no one else with you."

There is another pause, although this one is much shorter before Ay says, "I'm in. I don't need the war-hardened versions of any of my shinobi because none of them changed much from the war, and as long as I have Bee, I should be fine."

Gaara nods his agreement with the Raikage. The old man Tsuchikage just snorts that he is too old for this before adding more helpfully, "I am probably too stubborn for it to make a difference if any of my people come with me or not, and for the same reason there isn't any person who can take my place, so I am good with that plan."

"Then, it is settled. We will use the unraveling version of time travel to return you to the day when the genin teams of team sevens era were just assigned. I will seal the memories of everyone who is not on one of those teams and unseal them as planned." Kyasarin says in summary. She waits briefly to give everyone a chance to object before continuing. "I will need a week worth of time to finish my preparations as well as access to a flat space that can hold a circle that is thirty meters in diameter and lots of chakra ink. I suggest you make your preparations as well," She finishes.

"There is a room in the basement of this building that will suffice, and we have already prepared a place for you here as well, the Anbu guards can lead you to them. I will send for a large amount of chakra ink, and if you need anything else, all you have to do is ask." Kakashi replies in response to her requested supplies.

"Good," Kyasarin says, "Then I consider this meeting adjourned. It was a long trip here, and I would like to rest. If you have any further questions, you know where I will be. If not, I will see you in a week." Then she rose from her seat and crossed the room towards the door with all eyes trained on her. She made it to the door before deciding to add one more thing and turning around to face the gathered shinobi and saying, "Now is the time to consider what price you are willing to pay. If you believe that it cost too much say so at any time before I start the Jutsu and I will not move forward any further. Just be warned that once I start the Jutsu, there is no going back," and so saying she walks out the door to find an Anbu operative to show her to her room.

"Does anyone else feel mildly like they just made a deal with the devil," Ino asks in a voice to light for the remark.

"Yes, but for sixty thousand lives and the ability to restore balance to the world, I think it's worth it," Shikamaru says in response before rising from his seat and muttering something about having plans to make and how time travel was troublesome as he makes his exit.

It takes time but slowly alone or in groups, the gathered shinobi get up and leave the room until the only ones remaining are the members of team seven and Tsunade. "I'll go inform Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Kurenai of the plan and call them off of any missions for the week," Tsunade says as she leaves the room taking the burden off of Kakashi's shoulders.

Team seven stays sitting in silence for a little bit after the door closes before Sakura reflects a little numbly, "so, we're going to save the world again, except hopefully there will be fewer casualties this time."

"We're going to let Jiji die to do it," Naruto adds pensively.

"I think that we can probably save our selves a lot of trouble if we at least catch Kabuto during the chunnin exam this time around," Kakashi tacks on.

"This time I don't plan on becoming a missing-nin or killing my brother, but please tell me I can still kill Danzo," Sasuke chimes in.

"If it's bringing an end to Danzo, I don't mind. I"ll even help you," Naruto replies.

"I'm all for the killing Danzo plan as well, but we will need to bide our time for that. After the chunnin exam," Kakashi offers as an excellent time to get ride of Danzo.

"Agreed," the rest of the team corses with a little more enthusiasm than might be strictly necessary.

After a pause, Naruto gets up to leave, saying, "I am going to go enjoy not being glared at by the villagers for a while.

"I think I will go talk to Gai," Kakashi says as he joins Naruto in his exit.

"I will be climbing trees," Sakura says as she follows them while Sasuke just "hn's" as he follows the rest of the team out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, again constructive criticism is welcome. I know that there was a lot of dialog in this chapter, but they were having a meeting so there was.nt much I could do about that. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, and I will do my best to answer them.


	3. Considering the Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actions have consequences. It's a universal truth. The real question is if we are willing to live with those consequences.

He found her a mere five hours later appearing suddenly from a shunshin at her side while she shops for groceries. Several of the other occupants of the market street, citizens, and shinobi alike, are visibly startled by the man's sudden appearance. Kaysarin doesn't even flinch; instead, she continues walking unperturbed. She's been expecting him to join her since he began tailing her thirty minutes ago. When she fails to react to his sudden arrival, he decides to start the conversation himself. "You don't need a week to make the seal, do you," Kakashi asks five minutes after appearing at her side?

"No, I don't. If I wanted to, I could even perform the jutsu without the seal. The seal makes my life easier and the journey safer," Kaysarin responds.

When she does not elaborate further, he prompts, "so why the week," with a veneer of nonchalance, and a mask of disinterest. A cover that would deceive almost anyone but does nothing to fool her.

"The week is to ensure that we all consider the consequences," She replies with the same false nonchalance, but the words are heavy with truth. They continue to walk in companionable silence as Kaysarin does her shopping for the week until eventually, her patience begins to run out. "Even if there were space, you would always have to leave him here. Gai cannot make the trip, and you can't stay behind. Gai's body and soul are too damaged for him to make the trip. The attempt would only end in his death, but you must make the trip. Your team is the most essential group going. As Shikamaru said, you are the ones who defeated Kaguya, and you are too perceptive for them to make the trip without you." She stopped and looked him in the eye to say, "I would suggest you talk to Gai about it. Ask his opinion on the matter and then ask yourself if you are willing to accept the cost of leaving him behind." Then she turned back and continuing her shopping as if there was no interruption. 

Kakashi seems to ponder her words as they continue their walk before saying, "I believe I already knew that. It is nice to hear you say it out loud thou. I will talk to Gai after this, but before that, I have one more question. What about Lee?"

She wonders if this question is prompted by said individuals chakra signature beginning to shadow them five minutes ago and ponders how best to answer. Finally, she replies, "there are several reasons for leaving Lee here. The main one is that I believe that he will reach his current strength again without any problems. The second reason is that Gai and Neji can't come with. I already have reservations about team ten returning without Asuma, but there is nothing I can do about that. Shikamaru is the team strategist, so he has to go, and it's better if Ino and Choji go with. We will have to rely on their abilities to deceive Asuma until such time that it is safe to tell him the truth. Lastly, it is, overall, cruller to take him with us than to leave him behind. There is little value in forcing him to suffer when there are minimal benefits in him coming along," she finishes.

Kakashi hums lightly in response, and they continue their walk in silence until she arrives at the place she is staying. "I believe I will go consider the consequences, and what price I am willing to pay," he declares upon arrival and shunshins away.

"Have a nice chat with Gai," she calls after him. Then, looking in no particular direction, she calls out, "If you would like to spar Lee, I will make myself available," and in a blur, the man appears in front of her.

"It would be my honor to engage in a youthful spar with you," he says while bowing deeply.

"And it would be my honor to spar with a skilled opponent such as yourself," she replies. "How does tomorrow morning sound," she asks.

"It would be most agreeable," he replies. "I will see you at training field eight at seven if that works for you."

"It does. I will look forward to seeing you then," Kaysarin responds.

"You have my many thanks for this opportunity," Lee says.

"And you have mine," she says in return, and Lee takes his leave. She stands outside of the door to the building for a while, staring at the spot the man had occupied before muttering to herself, "I believe I will go meditate after dropping these off. Consider the consequences indeed," she says to herself.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the same time, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru are sitting around a grill at their favorite barbeque joint addressing the same question. Shikamaru begins the conversation saying, "I don't believe that Kaysarin was strictly honest with us. I think it should take her less than a week to prepare to cast the jutsu that will send us into the past. If we are talking about the time needed to make the array, I believe it could be done in a day. I would not be surprised if she could cast the jutsu without it in just a few minutes. Anything longer would make it useless in emergencies, and if they are experts on time travel, one would think they would have addressed the time needed to cast it by now."

"Then the real question is why she asked for a week," Ino concludes.

Choji, in between bites, points out, "maybe she already told us why she asked for the week, just without saying it directly." At the looks of surprise from his teammates on his insightful remark, Choji says defensively, "you both don't own the market on brains or observation abilities on our team. I have my moments too." At that statement, his teammates shrug it off as if there is nothing odd about Choji being the one to notice the apparent solution they missed.

"Maybe Choji's right. Kaysarin does not strike me as the type to just come out and say what they mean. She reminds me of Kakashi in that way, too used to misdirecting and obfuscating to be direct in her answers. Being obscure is too engrained, and it probably serves to test us as well. During the meeting, she seemed to be testing us. It was as if she was trying to get a feel for our personalities," Ino adds.

"You have a point," Shikamaru observes, "She has the presence of an extraordinarily well-seasoned shinobi, which is odd because it appears as if none of us knew of her before her arrival. At the very least, no one seems to remember knowing her."

"Is that the other thing that is bugging you," Choji asks mid-bite? He is currently using their distraction from dinner to claim a majority of the meal as his own.

"Yes, she is too good for none of us to know her. She reaks of experience on numerous battlefields, but I checked everyone's bingo books, and she is not in any of them. I know that doesn't rule out her being one of the unidentifiable shinobi or being listed under a pseudonym, but still." Shikamaru's face betrays how much this bothers him, but he moves past it and returns to the original question, "back to the original question, why the week?"

"It might be to give us time to consider what cost we are willing to pay," Ino suggests. "Her parting remark was about how it was now time to consider what we are willing to pay for the chance to change everything."

"That would align with what her apparent priority in the meeting was," Shikamaru remarks. "The entire time, it felt less like she wanted us to convince her to take us back in time, and more like she wanted us to convince ourselves, or at least cement our resolve."

"Then let's answer those questions first," Choji says decisively. "What will it cost us, and are we willing to pay that price?"

"Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru says in a sad voice, and a reflective silence overtakes the conversation. Eventually, Shikamaru breaks it by elaborating, "we are going to have to face him alive without him knowing us. We will have to lie to him every day for the foreseeable future. Hell, we are going to have to attempt to do the impossible and lie to not only my dad but Ino's dad as well without peeking their suspicions."

"But, we get the chance to ensure that they don't die this time around," Choji says quietly. The levity in his voice betrayed by the fact that this is the first time in the conversation he has stopped chowing down. 

"I think that chance is worth it," Ino says. "I would gladly lie to my father and Asuma-sensei for the rest of my life if it meant that they would still be alive to lie too."

The silence seems to reflect the other two's agreement until Choji makes it official stating, "that settles that. What is next on the agenda?" Before he returns to eating. It would be a real shame to waste any food by leaving it to burn.

"What Shikamaru said about her not needing us to convince her to take us back in time," Ino answers. "She has known about our plan, if we can call the idea to go back in time a plan, for well over a month. Likely, she has already formed her own opinion on the matter, and she does not appear to be a person who is easily swayed. She might want us to think about and confirm our choice, but I don't necessarily believe she is doing the same thing. I'm willing to bet that she already did all her thinking while on the road."

"Yeah, that's the other thing I have been thinking about," Shikamaru confirms. "I don't believe for a second that she said yes after only our small amount of justification in the meeting. As Ino noted, she's had more than a month to think about it, and I believe she was always going to say yes. I will be surprised if she doesn't have her reasons for taking us back through time."

"Then, at the very least, we should confront her with that issue when all twenty of us meet up the day ahead of our departure time for the mission," Ino proposes.

"Agreed," Shikamaru replies.

"What's next," Choji says as he polishes off the last of the meal that his teammates have bearly touched.

"Now is the time we sit down and make a plan so that there is a chance we can pull this off," Shikamaru says before doing the same with the remains of his meal.

"We'll help," Ino says, as she rises to pay for the meal, having already finished off her portion. Her teammates follow her out as they head toward the Nara complex to make the mother of all plans. A project that involves preventing a war while doing minimum damage to time and will require a multitude of back up plans for when something goes wrong.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In another, more private room, the five Kages from the fourth shinobi war along with Killer Bee, Kankuro, and Temari are having their own meeting. Ay starts the conversation by stating, "In the interest of full disclosure and honesty, I am willing to admit that we lost more than half of the village's shinobi population during the war. It will take us decades to recover from that loss, and that is discounting the other damages done during the war."

"I am not ashamed to admit that the leaf is no better off," Tsunade confides in them.

"If I am not mistaken, that should hold for all preset," Gaara points out. When neither of the remaining Kages contradicts him, he continues, "without us taking this chance to turn back time, I may very well spend the rest of my time as Kazekage trying to help my village recover from a three-day war. I believe the situation is much the same for the rest of you."

"It is," Mei confirms in a tense voice before letting out a soft sigh to release some of the tension in her shoulders. "That is if I remain Mizakage for that long. There are a number of my opponents trying to use the war as a reason to get me to retire. Tsunade has already been a casualty of similar political maneuvering."

"A willing casualty," Tsunade scoffs. "It is an open secret that I never wanted to be the Hokage. I only took the chair because I lost a bet to Naruto. After the fiasco that was my term, I was more than happy to hand the seat over to Kakashi, who is just as thrilled to have it as I was."

"Why do you ever gamble if you always lose," Kankuro asks, but quickly loses interest in the answer when Tsunade levels him with a glare and instead embarks on a study of a nearby painting.

"I'm old and would have been retiring soon anyway," the Tsachikage says, ignoring Kankuro question and steering them back on track, "but the point still stands. I'm willing to pay whatever cost it takes so that my people won't suffer form my foolishness." The other Kages present nod in agreement with his sentiment.

"If we were all gonna agree, why you have to bother the mighty Killer Bee," Killer Bee says, and the solemn moment is lost. Ay rises and is almost instantly smacking him on the head with his remaining hand while verbally admonishing him about how agreements must be spoken and not just assumed.

Clearing her throat Tsunade brings the attention of the room back to her before stating, "we have assigned the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to construct a plan for when we go back in time. They are meeting at the Nara complex and will be open to suggestions. Otherwise, we have planned on them presenting it to the entire team the day before we depart."

"I agree with Shikamaru taking the spot of strategist for the team. I am glad they are already working on a plan, and I have no problem with the meeting," Gaara says.

"I am inclined to agree with the Kazekage on all points," Mei states.

"Shikamaru is a fine strategist," Ay remarks, "and I have no problem with him making the plan and presenting it to us the day before, although I might take the option to offer advice."

"I am inclined to agree as well, on all points," the Tsuchikage confirms.

"I believe this is the most agreeing we have done in any of our meetings so far. It's a nice change of pace from all-out confrontations," Gaara says, and his remark earns him glares from some and stifled laughter form others.

"If we have no more business to discuss, we can always turn this into a dirking party," Tsunade proposes after choking down her stifled laugh.

"Of course you would be the one to suggest we change the meeting into a drinking party," Mei says with mirth in her voice and a smile pulling at her lips.

"Hey, we're going to screw with time. I believe this is definitely one of those moments that deserves a drink," Tsunade defends half-heartedly.

"Don't bother trying to hide it. We all know that you take every opportunity you can to get drunk," Gaara points out, though his tone lacks any accusation. The meeting devolves from there as they all try to bury their inner turmoil in false levity. All present know that this venture will cost them considerably, and, in lieu of that, no one could blame them for wanting to get drunk. Everyone knows it will cost them substantially, but for a future were the fourth shinobi war never happened, they are all willing to pay the price. Sorting out any implication, well, they can all do that on their own time, maybe just after they have gotten considerably drunk.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In front of Neji's grave, team eight is having their own meeting, although their's is silent. Having just returned from a mission, they don't have the energy to discuss what is running thru their minds, but they stand together thinking their own thoughts and considering the implications of time travel. It takes a while to sink in, but none of them even consider rejecting the mission. Instead, they stand in solemn solidary while gazing at the graves that, should they succeed, might not need to be dug.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura has been pacing across team seven's usual training grounds for hours when Sasuke finds her to tell her that her presence as a healer has been requested for the spar between Lee and Kaysarin tomorrow morning. She has been quartering the field without bothering to avoid the trees or lake, opting to walk straight over them instead as she trods along blindly lost in thought. She has done a significant number of unusual and dangerous things in her shinobi career, including going toe to toe with a pseudo-chakra-god entity. Still, time travel is its own beast, and she has no reference for it. She has been trying to convince herself for the past few hours that time travel is not an insane solution to there problems and failing miserably. She knows that even without convincing herself of the sanity of this crazy plan, she will be going back to the past with her team. She knows all too well what was lost during the war and given a chance to undo the damage, she knows she will take it, so when Sasuke finds her, she has long moved past the question of whether it is worth the cost and onto the question of how to build their bodies back up. Sakura doesn't even bother asking why Lee and Kaysarin are sparing tomorrow and instead just agrees to be present as a medic in case of an emergency before beginning a conversation on a completely separate topic. "Do you think we can convince Naruto to give up that horrid orange jumpsuit," she asks Sasuke.

Sasuke flinches at the memory mentioning the thing has brought back before replying, "no, but I wouldn't put it past Kakashi to find a way to destroy it and replace it with something else less eye-searing." He pauses before saying, "I don't think it was an option for me. When given the opportunity to go back in time and prevent myself from ever making the worst mistakes of my life, I think I would take it every time. I can't even bring myself to care about the cost. I have already lost everything once, and every other price pales in comparison."

"As long as you, Kakashi, and Naruto are going, there was never a chance of me not coming with. I won't be left behind by you lot. Besides, if I'm not there, you'll probably get yourselves killed. For me, there wasn't a choice either," Sakura says in response to his admission.

"Maybe we can burn the accursed thing," Sasuke says redirecting them back to their previous, much lighter, conversation topic.

"Or rip it to shreds," Sakura says as if the serious interlude never occurred. There is nothing else said on the topic, but a tiny bit of the crushing weight on her shoulders has disappeared as they return to the village side by side plotting increasing complex ways to dispose of a certain blonds jumpsuit.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning finds every surviving member of the Konoha twelve, Kakashi, Tsunade, and Kaysarin gathered at training field eight. The rest of the team heading back in time had been told of the spar, but none of them opted to show. Lee and Kaysarin stand fifteen meters apart in the open clearing with Kakashi splitting the distance between them. Kakashi outlines the rules for the fight, taijutsu, and weapons only, no use of genjutsu or ninjutsu allowed, and no aiming for critical or life-threating hits. The spar will begin on Kakashi's signal, and moving before the sign will be considered forfeiting the match. He then has them make the traditional sign before giving the signal and shunshin into the crowd for safety.

In a flash, the two combatants have met in an exchange of blows where Kakashi once stod. Lee is blocking Kaysarin from drawing her sword, and Kaysarin is blocking Lee's downward kick with her right forearm while being midway through the motion for drawing her sword. Kaysarin smiles to herself. It has been a long time since someone matched her pace in her quick draw, and even better than that Lee had not only matched it but damn near outpaced her with his kick.

Unperturbed by her failure to draw her sword, Kaysarin releases her grip on the hilt of the sword, letting gravity take the blade back into its sheath as she pushes up against Lee's leg with her forearm. This causes him to flip back to avoid losing his balance, and she uses this opening to execute her own flip backward allowing her to gain time and distance as she draws her sword in midair before landing.

No sooner has she landed than Lee is on her with a kick aimed at disarming her that she bearly manages to parry with her shin as she flips the sword in her hand so that the blade follows the line of her forearm. She swings the blade forward in a punch like motion that would have left a lesser shinobi headless, but that Lee ducks under while aiming a blow towards the opening the action creates, but is thwarted as she pushes off the ground with the foot that had remained on the ground launching herself into a dive that follows the path of her sword. As she hits the ground in a handstand, she uses the opportunity to flip the grip on her sword back to normal before pushing off the field and executing a one-hundred and eighty-degree turn in midair to land in a perfectly balanced stance with her left hand coming up to meet her right on the sword. By the time she has set herself, Lee has turned and is in his own balanced stance, and they stare each other down looking for openings where there are seemingly none.

The sudden stillness is a shock after the flurry of motion that proceeded it, and it remains for a long moment before Lee is drawing a Kuni, and they are clashing again. Extraordinary amounts of movement and abrupted stillness define the fight as they each try to get a feel for the other's style and find an opportunity to strike. 

It is Kaysarin who ultimately finds an opening first after fifteen minutes of battle. She ducks under Lee's leaf hurricane while executing a dragon sweep of her own only to come up in a one-handed slash aimed for his chest that Lee bearly dodges, but the attack serves to distract him from the fact that she has drawn her sword's sheath from her belt with her left hand. Stepping forward with the momentum from the spinning strike, she aims a blow with the sheath at the junction where the back of his head meets his neck only to stop millimeters before making contact. The field is silent and still again until she relaxes her stance as she breaths out, "It's my win," and proceeds to back up and sheaf her sword while then putting the blade back on her waste.

Jolted out of his surprise, Lee relaxes his stance too and gives a broad grin with his signature thumbs up and says, "Indeed it is, and a most youthful win at that." He then offers his hand in the sign of reconciliation, which she returns. "I did not imagine that the sword's sheath could be used as a weapon," he admits.

"Most people don't," she replies with a small smile pulling at her mouth at the compliment, "that's what makes it so effective." The exchange appears to have prompted the other shinobi to join them, but she manages to tell him that she would like to meet him at the Hokages monument to talk before the others are in hearing range. She lets Tsunade clear her of any injury before pleading fatigue and departing from the training field.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She is standing atop the first Hokage's head when Lee finds her after lunch, a pensive look marring her features. He arrives silently and says nothing waiting for her to begin the conversation. She rubs a hand against her temple to ward off a headake before giving up and running it through her messy curls. Finally, she says, "I didn't suggest sending you back because I have faith in you. I believe in your ability to reach this level of power and skill again. I think you have the ability to build yourself up to the point where you can stand beside them even without the life experience they will have."

She doesn't say anything else. Instead, she waits silently, staring at the horizon, for Lee's response. After a few minutes of this silence, he asks, "Why?"

"I don't really know," she answers, "It could be blind faith or the look of determination I see in your eyes." At the feel of the gaze on her, she realizes this answer is not sufficient, and she lets out a soft laugh that relaxes her features before she tries for a different approach. "Do you know," she continues, "I am your exact opposite. You are chakra insensitive and, therefore, incapable of controlling, manipulating, or molding chakra. I, on the other hand, have a Kekkei Genkai that makes me oversensitive and makes shaping and molding chakra instinctive. You can't use chakra, and it's damn near impossible for me not to use it, so for you building your body is natural, and for me, it's barely possible. I have even been forced to use seals to stifle my chakra so that my muscles can grow. I train almost constantly and hardly gain any muscle, but when you do the same thing, you see significant results."

"I did not know that, but your performance in our spar shows that you have overcome that problem," Lee responds.

"Thru a large amount of effort I have managed to conceal my weakness, but every move I used in that spar had instinctive chakra in it. Everybody considered me a genius because of my mastery over ninjutsu and genjutsu that comes to me naturally. Still, no one ever pauses to think that my continuous training in kenjutsu might be to cover for my lack of the strength necessary to be good at taijutsu. No one ever considered that my style in hand to hand combat being modeled after flowing water might be because I lack the strength necessary to use my family's style to become as immovable as a rock." She finally takes her eyes off the horizon to look Lee straight in the eye before continuing, "the only reason you lost our spar is that I have an extraordinary amount of experience behind me. It is sadly not an exaggeration to say that I grew up on the battlefield, and for the duration of my childhood, it was my playground. It is that experience that allowed me to beat you in our spar and nothing else. Not a difference in talent or determination, just experience. Given a few more years, without my ninjutsu, I would stand no chance in a fight against you." She levels her gaze at him before concluding, "you are a most worthy opponent."

Startled slightly by her sudden assertion, Lee takes a moment before responding, "as are you. I regret that I lack time to face you again. It is the determination to move forward regardless of the limitations that define us," Lee declares wholeheartedly, "that is what it means to have a youthful heart."

A small smile graces her feature as she says, "then maybe it's your youthful heart that gives me faith in your ability to rise again." There are no more words said, and an hour later, Lee departs to prepare for an upcoming mission. At Lee's departure, she sits down and begins to meditate, and it is hours later, a little before sunset before another voice interrupts her meditation.

"This is one of my favorite spots in the village," Naruto remarks, "though I prefer to sit on the fourths head."

She slowly opens her eyes, coming out of her meditation before responding, "It's a nice place to observe people without having to feel their eyes on you."

His interest peaked, Naruto asks, "do you offten find yourself being stared at?"

"Yes," she replied almost instantly before taking a breath and elaborating, "though what is behind their stares changes with time. When I was young, those eyes looked at me with envy, but that was before the war on our island occurred. After the war, those same gazes were filled with fear. Eventually, the fear turned to disdain as I served as a distraction from my sister and a magnet for their anger, so at least one of us could get things done. Later, it became grudging respect when I ended a war before it could begin. Here people look at me with curiosity and suspicion, but after we go back, I will be facing looks of fear again. My clan will know I have traveled back in time and though they know better than to ask they will fear the implications and me by extension," she finishes in a quiet voice.

"So your clan will know we traveled through time," Naruto asks?

"They will sense it, yes, but they will say nothing about it. The clan will continue with there regular lives and not mention a thing because they will know I came back too. I plan on leaving within a week of my arrival to go find Tsunade, so it doesn't matter that much," she answers before asking, "what about you? What eyes will you be facing?"

"Eyes filled with hatred, because I will not have earned their respect yet," Naruto answers with sadness lacing his voice.

"Is that the cost you will have to pay besides letting the third die," she prompts.

"Yes," he says with a heavy sigh as he sits down beside her, "but I will have Iruka-sensei as well as everyone else who comes with us." There is silence before he inquires, "do you always think about the cost?"

She considers what to say before replying in a soft voice, "I think about the cost all the time even though I find that most people never give it more than a passing thought."

"Why," Naruto questions in deep-seated irritation at the sadness concealed in her soft voice, "why is it so important to you?"

She lets out a long sigh before answering, "because I was forced to start thinking about it at a young age. I grew up during a war, and my childhood was spent on a battlefield that your history knows nothing of. I was a member of a nine-person squad that both my brother and sister were also on. One day we were ambushed, and I hesitated while my brother didn't, and he died. Every day since then, I have been faced with the cost of my hesitation. I always considered the consequences because every day, I've been faced with the price of not doing so. I hesitated, my brother died, and the way I saw the world was forever changed."

"How old," he asks in a voice as soft as hers, "how old were you when he died."

A pained look flashed across her features before all emotion seems to slip from her being as she answers in a flat monotoned voice, "I was four. The day I hesitated and was therefore forced to watch my brother die in compensation for my inaction, I was only four years old." She stands up suddenly as if to run away from the conversation that is now hitting to close to home and says tersely, "I apologize, but I must take my leave. I have a seal to complete." So saying she disappears, leaving a baffled blond to stare after her retreating back.

An hour later finds Naruto staring at the memorial stone tracing the names of the people that won't have been carved onto the stone yet when they go back. For all of those names, he decides it's worth it no matter the cost. He will gladly pay the price so that those names never find their way onto the stone. Resolve made he tucks his hands into his pockets and heads to the village to get himself a bowl of Ichiraku ramen.


	4. Flipping the Pages Back to the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is how the world ends, not with a bang, nor a fash, but with a seal that unravels time bringing you back to the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Chapter is now complete as of September 6, 2019

The meeting occurring the day before their departure has been mostly uneventful. Mostly being the keyword. The twenty shinobi taking the trip had hashed and rehashed their plan along with numerous backup plans. They went over what it should feel like when they are pulled thru time, have seen the seal, and had the process for activating it correctly explained to them in painstaking detail. Of course, there had been the standard posturing, a few thrown kunai, and a punch through a wall, but this is Konoha where broken walls are a common occurrence, and they had an extra room prepared. No, nothing noteworthy occurred until the end.

The master plan has nine parts, and they decided to end the planning portion of the meeting by having everyone recite their piece in part one of the plan. Part one covers waking up all the way to the chunin exam, and Shikamaru starts them off by saying, "as troublesome as it might be, let's review part one again."

Four currently raining Kages, a former kage, Killer Bee and the two remaining sand siblings begin the recitation by stating in unison like well-trained genin, "we will arrive in the past with our memories sealed. Should the seal fail at any point in time before we are supposed to be awakened, we will do our best to act like our usual selves for that time while finding a way to discreetly signal our distress.

At that point, everyone else stops talking, but Tsunade continues without pause. "I will be awakened by Kaysarin when she finds me, or by team seven if she fails to locate me before the end of the chunin exam. I will ensure that both know my location during that period. I will expect to be awakened between one to two months after our entry date. After I meet up with Kaysarin, we will attempt to find a logical reason to return to Konohagakure before the chunin exams. If we fail to do so, we will meet up with team seven at the specified location so they can retrieve us."

Without a breath of space between when Tsunade ends, and they begin, the sand siblings recite, "We will be awakened during the chunin exam. It will occur sometime after the beginning of the second test and will be done by Kaysarin or Kakashi, depending on availability. We will then attempt to dissuade the sand from participating in the invasion." Gaara finishes by himself, "once my father is found dead, I will begin making moves to become the next Kazekage."

Shikamaru nods in approval at the monotone recitation devoid of any emotion before signaling for the group to continue. "We will arrive with our memories intact," the remaining twelve begin in the same eerie monotone before Kaysarin drops out. "We will act in accordance with how we behaved during that period of our life while slowly making changes that can be justified by outside stimuli. We will confirm that the others have safely arrived using codded phrases and will not assume that they have made it until after the confirmation is complete. If a person fails to awaken, their assigned partner will attempt to awaken them. If that does not work, we will wait for Kaysarin to arrive and awaken them. We will not draw undue attention to ourselves unless it is called for by the plan."

With that line said the two senseis drop out, and the group, once known as the Rookie nine, continue by saying, "Noone will take any action during the day of team assignments that could indicate to Iruka-sensei that something is wrong." 

Once they have concluded their part, Kaysarin finishes the recitation by stating, "I will take no more than a week to prepare and then depart for the mainland. Once I arrive, I will locate Tsunade and break the seal on her memories. After that, I will follow her lead and be on call for any complications that may be encountered."

"Good," Shikamaru says with slight satisfaction in his voice. "That concludes the planning portion of the meeting and leaves us with the question and answer portion. Feel free to ask questions relative to the mission of any person present."

Kaysarin steals herself for interrogation as all eyes swing to her. Oddly enough, it is not Shikamaru or Ino that begins, but Tsunade as she tentatively says, "I know you, don't I."

Several emotions cross Kaysarins face going from surprise, to joy, to sadness and regret before settling on a slightly whistful look that people often get when reminiscing. "You knew me," she replies. "Before you left the village to go into.....'retirement,' you asked me to ensure that you wouldn't remember me."

"Why," Tsunade asks a bit tentatively.

Kaysarin hesitates on the answer before stating, "our history is complicated and filled with death and blood. You believed it better for you not to remember my clan or me to avoid complications and ensure the knowledge wasn't leaked. I was surprised that you remember your grandfather's story because the seal was designed to cause a total wipe. The best I can guess as to why it remained is because it was so vague."

"Can you give me back my memories," Tsunade asks with a bit more confidence.

"Yes," Kaysarin replies, "Just like with any other seal, there is a way to break it. The real question is whether you would like me to unlock it now, latter or never at all."

Tsunade hesitates for a brief moment before stating, "Now, I would appreciate it if you unlooked them now."

Kaysarin, slightly thrown off by Tsunade's pleading tone, asks, "like now, now, or now as in after the meeting?"

The question frustrates Tsunade, and she slams her hands down on the table, causing it to grown pathetically as she stands. Making her way towards Kaysarin, she demands, with no little irritation, "like now, now."

"Okay," Kaysarin says as she rises to meet Tsunade's approach. She flashes thru a series of seals before placing two fingers on Tsunade's seal mark and muttering 'release.' A web of sealing lines flow out from under the mark and Tsunade closes her eyes as the forming lines flick off like worn-out paint until nothing remains.

A series of emotions cross Tsunades face as a flood of memories come back to her, and she gasps in shock. During the pauses, Kakashi enquires, "Did you place the memory seal underneath her already existing seal?"

"Yes," Kaysarin answers, "after all, where best to hide a seal...," she begins, but is interrupted by Tsunade as she opens her eyes, and finishes the sentence, "...than underneath another."

The two of them exchange a look that appears to convey a thousand words before Teunade questions, "how on earth do you look the same age as the day I first met you?"

"You don't look much older than the day I met you either," Kaysarin shoots back without hesitation, "don't start becoming the pot calling the kettle black. You and I both know that I don't do it on purpose," she adds, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Oh, yes, I forgot, your apparent lack of aging is an inherent consequence of your genome," Tsunade snips back in response to the none to the subtle barb.

Ay interrupts their bickering before it can get any further by stating, "ladies, I mean no offense. But, I believe we have more important things to discuss than either of your aversion to aging," earning himself a heated glare from both parties. Never the less his remark serves its' purpose, and they both return to their seats, and the meeting continues.

Shikamaru is ultimately the one to continue the meeting by saying, "the fact that Tsunade-sama clearly knows you brings up another point I would like to address. Why don't you appear in any of our bingo books? You are obviously a skilled shinobi, and your absence is worrying."

At that Tsunade lets out a poorly concealed laugh earning herself the attention of the entire room. Schooling her features, she answers their unasked questions, "It's not that she's absent from the book, just that she was never known by anything more than her moniker. To this day, she is one of the most capable shinobi I know that most people will never recognize on site. In the bingo book, you will find her information listed under the moniker 'Obsidian Streak' in the section with an unknown village association."

The Tsuchikage is the only one whos features flash with recognition at the name, and he asks, a little awed, "you're the Obsidian Streak?" Noticing that no one else has recognized the moniker, he continues. "The Obsidian Streak became well known during the beginning of the second great shinobi war as someone who would rescue shinobi on all sides from impending death. Returning them to their villages nearest med post while leaning only a streak of black chakra in their wake. They disappeared around the end of the war, but to this day, the Obsidian Streak holds the record for the highest overall bounty from all of the great villages that will only be accepted when brought back alive. Last I checked the Obsidian Streak was still listed in every village's bingo book although some might says assumed dead seeing as they disappeared without a trace and made no appearances during the third great shinobi war."

Kaysarin scratches at her check a little nervously before confirming, "Yeah, that would be me," having clearly not expected to be so easily recognized.

"Why were you rescuing shinobi from all sides of the conflict," Gaara inquires, "It does not appear to be tactically wise."

"In all honesty," Kaysarin answers a little sheepishly, "I was trying to avoid having to enter a battlefield completely. It just happened that I would end up near one, and I have never been able to just sit back and watch kids die, and that's who I found fighting in the war, kids. So, I ended up rescuing children from the bloodiest of battlefields, regardless of village alliance or status. I am a firm believer that children should never have to fear having their life cut short in a war started by adults."

"Huh," is the only verbal response she gets from Gaara, but most of the rest of the room pin her with considering gazes.

Naruto, almost ignorant of the present atmosphere, continues the line of questioning, asking, "is there any specific reason that drives you to save strangers."

Kaysarin worries at her lip as a stormy look crosses her features before responding, "you want to know why I save people?" with a little bit of a growl to her voice. The question proves to be rhetorical as she continues, "the reason I rescue people, whether they be friends, enemies, or strangers, is because the one person I want to save most in the world is beyond my reach.

Moving them away from the newly discovered touchy subject Shikamaru queries, "how long will it take you to draw seals on the ones who need them."

"About thirty minutes per person," Kaysarin estimates as her demeanor returns to a much lighter one. "There should only be eleven of you that need an extra seal. The time travel will all be handled by the one you saw in the basement, and I will have you write yourselves into it the day of by having you add a small amount of blood and chakra when it activates."

"I know you said that jinchuuriki are a two for one deal, but I was wondering if we might be able to send the memories of all the tailed beast back with me because I have a peace of each of their chakra," Naruto inquires. The perceptiveness of the question surprises everyone present until Sasuke ask snidely if that was his idea or Kurama's.

Kaysarin cuts the two off from any further bickering by remarking, "I don't actually know," and then proceeding to worry at her lower lip in thought. At the inquisitive gazes, she is gathering she decides to think through it out loud and stares blankly ahead as she organizes her thoughts while reciting them out loud. "In theory, given that tailed beast are chakra entities, it should be possible. Should being the operative word. As I have explained previously, the jutsu works by attaching your memories to your chakra and letting it be swept up on a massive chakra wave along the temporal plane and deposited into your younger bodies at the time we chose. Hence, should we send some of the tailed beast chakra bound to yours with the correct memories attached to it, and that chakra safely makes the journey with you and then have the tailed beast come in direct contact with it before it is discovered or used up. Then, it is possible that you could, in a sense, bring them back with you. You know, theoretically, that is, but that's a lot of ifs. I would use a method similar to how we are linking the memories for Gyuki and Shukaku into the memory seal so that they wake up at the same time as their jinchuuriki." She says before her eyes come back into focus, and she looks straight at Naruto before stating, "given that is all theoretical, and I won't really know until I try. It's one of those situations that must go from it is to it is possible instead of the other way around. I'm not going to say it isn't worth a try, just that I can make no guarantees that it will work.

She groans a little when she noticed the light in Naruto's eyes that clearly tells her that her warning has been ignored. She is about to open her mouth to reiterate her advice when the boy burst with joy and says, "I will make sure to collect the relevant chakra record memories from all of the tailed beasts," while positively vibrating with pleasure. She sighs in exasperation and decides the better part of tact will be to just cut her losses and deal with his disappointment should the experiment end in failure.

"Why did you say yes," Ino question when the prior conversation appears to have wrapped up. The room drops into dead silence as the eyes present float to her, and she reiterates her question. "Why did you say yes on taking us through time? We each have our own reason why we find such an extream measure to be worth the cost, but if you're taking us on this trip, I would like to know what made you decided it was worth the price you'll have to pay?"

The eyes in the room turn to Kaysarin, and they all watch as her emotions seem to bleed away, and she gets a far off look in her eye as if she sees something that isn't there. "My reasons are a bit complicated and hard to explain," she says in a flat voice that has Tsunade furrowing her brow in concern while others stiffen at the change.

It appears to affect Kakashi the most as he losses his relaxed demeanor and leans forward like a hound catching a scent. "We have as much time as we need, and are all willing to listen," Kakashi states almost absently with a look of intense curiosity in his eyes as he meets Kaysarin.

At that statement, emotions appear to flow back into her as if they've been released from a dam and she makes a face as if she tastes something bitter. "Fine," she says as her emotions settle back over her like a jacket, "but interrupt me, and I will not attempt to tell you ever again." At the nods she receives from all present, she lets out a shaky breath before continuing. "No one has ever accused shinobi of being a mentally stable sort of people, people we might consider to be 'Okay' in their heads. The rank of Jonin practically comes with the condition of having some sort of mental instability. After all, how can we be these 'Okay People'? We spend almost the entirety of our lives, learning how to be better at killing people. We subject ourselves to traumatic events over and over again, and face down death regularly. Most shinobis born into shinobi families will end up orphaned, and all shinobi that live long enough will end up watching a majority of the people they care about die, sometimes gruesomely, without being able to do a thing to stop it." She grimaces at that thought but continues, "We live our life on the edge of life and death, so generally no, we are not 'Okay People,' but War has a lot to do with that. In times of peace, we tend to produce more shinobi that are mentally stable and have significantly less mental damage to deal with. What you are asking me is to help you end a war before it ever starts and drastically reduce the number of people that suffer from its consequences. If we can succeed and establish lasting peace, we will have secured generations of shinobi that are more 'Okay' as people." There is a fire in her eyes as she says, "for that, I am willing to give up almost everything. So, your right; I have my own reasons that lead me to say yes. I am selfish and care more for the possible generations of shinobi that will be better off because of our actions than saving the tens of thousands that have already died because not a single person in this room is 'Okay.'"

A heavy silence falls over the room as they all consider her words. Some look through there memories for shinobi that would disprove her assertion, while others try to find a way to justify that they are, in fact, 'Okay.' It is telling that not even Naruto burst forward to object. Eventually, the silence is broken as Naruto lets out a breathy laugh realizing he can't find an example to disprove her sentiment. "Well, aren't we a sorry bunch," he says with a wry smile crossing his features.

"Yup," Sasuke agrees, "a real sorry bunch of messed up broken people."

"But, we're going to save the world," Sakura adds with determination shining in her eyes.

"Sounds like fun," Kakashi acknowledges with an eye smile and dry humor lurking behind his voice.

"A band of mentally unstable shinobi off to save the world from its imminent doom," Tsunade says, with the ghost of her own smile on her features, "what could possibly go wrong?"

"Don't say that you'll jinx us," Mei shots out with a smile of her own, "but I do agree with the Hokage, sounds like fun."

"I'm sorry to inform you of this," Gaara says dryly, "but it appears that you and I may have very different definitions of fun."

"I'm going to have to agree with Gaara on this one," Shikamaru states, "It sounds like more of a drag to me."

Their bantering has caused the previous tension in the room to break, and Kayarin begins to relax. When Shikamaru calls the whole venture a drag, she can't help herself and lets out a bark of laughter that leads her into a fit of giggles that attracts the attention of the room back to her. Seeing the tension leave Kaysarin as she breaks down in her fit of laughter brings a small smile to Tsunade's face, and it takes a while before Kaysarin can gather her wits, wipe a tear from her eye and address the looks she's receiving. "I'm sorry," she says as she collects herself and try's desperately to school her features but failing in her efforts, "It's been a long time since I've been around a group of people comfortable enough with my presence to openly banter in front of me. Most people remain so severe in my company that you would think I made it a point to shove a stick up their ass before they can walk in the room." She finally collects herself, but the humor never leaves her eyes even when the sadness returns as she finishes lamely, "It's nice to be able to relax in a room without worrying too much about others' opinions of me."

At those remarks, there is an eruption of smiles in the room, making the atmosphere almost too relaxed for the war council they are essentially having. Shikamaru doesn't end up cracking a smile, but there is a lightness in his tone as he asks, "do you have any last-minute reminders or advise for us before we throw ourselves back through time?"

This time Kaysarin does manage to school her features as she lists in a more serious tone, "please remember that the seals placed on you will not be visible on your younger bodies but will be linked to your chakra so even if you don't see them they are present. For Tsunade, the previous seal on your memories will be overwritten and dispelled upon our arrival, but I don't anticipate any consequence from it. I will do my best to ensure that Naruto makes it back with the memories of all the tailed beast. Still, I make no promises that it will work, and even if it does, he will need to come in direct contact with the tailed beast chakra or that of their jinchuuriki for the memory transfer to work. There will be a small increase in your younger body's chakra reserves upon your arrival, but there will be no other change to your physical body besides that. This includes seals that are present at the time," she says eyeing the resident jinchuuriki during her last statement, and they nod in understanding.

She pauses to take a breath and worry her lip as she mutters under her breath, something that sounds vaguely like advice as she contemplates her answer. "Do your best to utilize the changes in your life at that time to justify the changes in yourselves," she finally says before elaborating. "It would be unrealistic to have Hinata suddenly find confidence, Kiba loss his brashness, and Shino learns to be sociable. On the other hand, if you make it a gradual change, it will appear to outsiders as if Kurenai is merely excellent at her job. For team ten, it would be best if you feed off each other to make it look like you are working out your personality quirks from the time as a team. Ino can appear to drag Shikamaru thru training, Shikamaru makes it look like he is responsible for Choji's bost in confidence, and Choji can wheedle Ino from her fangirl phase, or something along those lines. I trust you can think of a solution. For team seven, it would be best to become what you were meant to be. In general, Konoha's team seven is engineered to be an excellent support team or, as the front lines know them, a heavy-assault team. Kakashi needs only to use that fact then find an excuse for his apparent motivation to turn you guys into the type of monsters that decimate armies." She looks up from her contemplation of the table to eye the eleven other shinobi who would wake up upon their arrival to give more weight to her words as she finishes, "and for the love of all things holy, try not to stare at your decease comrades as if they are ghosts."

Shikamaru grimaces but appears to accept the advice as sound and begin to contemplate a plan on how they can work around Asuma-sensei without raising too many questions. When no one immediately assaults her with another question, Kaysarin asks, "are there any more questions," in an attempt to wrap up the meeting.

Her attempt fails as Kakashi answers, "just one," with the look of a keen observer in his eyes, "why am I your back up in the case you don't wake up?"

Kaysarin looks a little surprised by the question as if the answer should be self-evident before responding, "because you're a Hatake," as if that explains everything. At the growing puzzlement in the eyes of the other occupants in the room, she continues with confusion slipping into her tone as she explains. "The Hatake were once samurai and are still the closest bloodline clan to my own and, therefore, best able to house my chakra that will be necessary for the backup to have." When a majority of the room still look puzzled, her eyes go comically wide as she appears to realize something. "Did no one think to question how Kakashi could use an implanted Sharingan for more than two decades without dying or having to resort to further genetic modifications to support it. Did no one question why he was able to use the Mangekyo Sharingan when Donzo would have died from using it without the implanted cells from the First Hokage." At the looks of shock and consideration present in the room, she openly blanches before asking. "You're honestly telling me that no one thought to question why the Hatake chakra is naturally white or why they have an easier time learning jutsu from all elemental release." When no one response she begins muttering oaths and something about the death of knowledge when clans come too close to extinction.

"So you're saying that the Hatake chakra is special," Shikamaru inquires to break the growing silence.

"Of course it special," Kasarin replies somewhat frustrated, "the progenitor of the Hatake clan is related to my own. There is no way for it not to be special no matter how watered down the blood might get." She eyes Kakashi as she composes herself, "there are things I can tell you about your heritage and your chakra, but here and now is neither the right place nor the right time. I would suggest that you look through your clan records when you get a chance, and if you still have questions later, you can ask me about it when we meet up in the past."

Kakashi nods his agreement before stating, "if there is nothing else, I consider this meeting adjourned and will see you all at noon tomorrow." With that said, the occupants of the room nod their agreement and trail their way out of the room.

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When Shikamaru found Kaysarin, almost two hours after the meeting, she was checking over the seal scrolled across the basement floor. She knows that with seals, especially those related to time travel, there is no such thing as being too careful nor checking one too many times. So, when he enters the room, he finds her, on her hands and knees, rechecking the seal for the second time since the meeting's closure.

"I found you in the bingo book," he remarks in an almost bored voice after having stopped only a few steps into the room. 

Kaysarin, for her part, does not react beyond asking with a mild amount of interest coloring her tone, "was it an interesting read," while she continues unperturbed with her work.

Untroubled by her lack of reaction, which is expected from ninja of her caliber, Shikamaru replies, "Interesting for its' lack of information." He then recites precisely what he learned from the bingo book from memory. "Moniker, Obsidian Streak, real name and village association unknown, assumed independent. Skill level estimated to be high A or low S rank with assumed medical and stealth training. Appearance and age unknown, but believed to be female and of a smaller build. Suspected of having some knowledge in seals and possibly hail from a dead village or clan. Wanted alive by all major villages but no reward offered for delivery of corpse." During his recitation, Shikamaru stares at his nails but now looks pointedly at her stating, "that is the only information available on you in the bingo books of all major nations." He then asks bluntly, "how did you remain so active during the second war yet remain so invisible?"

She smiles a little to herself before answering, "I never killed anyone, so no one was really looking." Finding a stopping point, she takes her hand from the floor and sits back on her heels before continuing without turning to face her guest, "What you do not look for, you will not see."

"And your relations to the leaf, how did you conceal that," he questions further.

"For one thing, the only reason I had a relation to the leaf was that Tsunade caught me trying to drop off an injured shinobi and pinned me down by forcing me to assist her in treating them," she started and then paused before continuing with a thoughtful look on her face. "Secondly, most people never stopped to consider who I was or where my loyalties lied. I was saving lives indiscriminately, not taking them. A good portion assumed that I was from a dead clan or village and was rebelling against the loss of life in my own unique way. Others decided that as long as I wasn't a threat actively trying to kill them, I was a problem to be left on the back burner. Even in Konoha, the only ninja that knew who I was where the Sannin, their sensei, and the white fang, and they only knew because they knew Tsunade."

He paused to let that information sink in before asking his next question, "have you really devoted your life to saving others for the sole reason of not being able to save the person that mattered most to you?"

"Yes," she replies, and her shoulders slump as if a heavyweight has been added to them. "I don't believe Naruto is the type of person to tell others things people reveal to him in confidence, so I will just tell you myself. When I was four years old, I was caught in an ambush and watched my brother die right before my eyes without being able to do a single thing to stop it." She turns her face towards him, and there is something ineffable in her eyes, while her voice fills with heavy sadness and great pain as she confesses, "I broke inside that day. A piece of me just shattered, and though it has been a long time since then, and I have always been working to piece myself back together, I know that something has been lost, and I am now irrevocably broken. I do not hold out any belief that I will be whole again, so instead, I hold onto the broken shards of my heart as I haphazardly piecemeal it back together and save others so no one else has to end up damaged like me."

The look she gives him, and her pain-filled words appear to confirm something for him because he relaxes slightly from his board facade before saying, "that at least explains your concern about the next generation's mental health." There is a small pull at the corner of his mouth that couldn't be called a smile but was a close enough approximation when he continues by stating, "you didn't have to tell me that, but thank you for trusting me enough to do so."

She returns his slight tug with a pained not smile of her own before replying, "yes, I really did. I'm taking you on a literal trip through time, so you need to trust me, but to trust me, you need to understand me. It is not that I trust you implicitly after such a short amount of time that it makes sense for me to divulge my deepest and darkest life-altering trama, but more because I need you to understand me and therefore, can't afford to not trust you with it." After saying her piece, she returns to her work, possibly in the hope that the engrained practice will stem the tide of memoried looking to overcome her.

Shikamaru observes her for a while longer before leaving without saying another word. Her voice ringing in his ears and racing through his thoughts in the form of the phrases 'need you to understand me' and 'can't afford to not trust you.' The weight behind her words, giving more credit to her claimed age than even Tsunades words.

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During this time, team seven is sitting in the Hokage's office with Kakashi seated behind the desk finishing off last-minute paperwork before setting off on tomorrow's mission, which has no foreseeable end. Ever since Kakashi took the hat from Tsunade, the office has become the teams gathering place. Sakura is sitting across the desk from Kakashi, reviewing medical text with Naruto beside her going over old mission reports. Sasuke sits in the corner sharpening his weapons, knowing full well they won't make the journey with him but using the methodical ingrained process to clear his mind. 

Naruto has made his way through all of team seven's reports before the chunin exam when his head pops up as if he has been hit by a sudden train of thought. "Why did you enter us into the chunin exam the first time," he asks Kakashi, "we were by no means ready."

With that inocent question, the attention of the entire room snaps to Kakashi, and he lowers his pen slowly and looks up from the scroll he is reading to fix his lone grey eye on them. The entire week he has taken to covering his other eye to get back into the habit of not having it. "The fact that as a team you all made it through the second test and only Sakura failed to make it past the prelims for the third test would appear to contradict the statement that you were not ready," he states mildly before continuing more seriously. "Never the less, it wasn't about whether you were ready or not. What it was about was your failing teamwork and lack of motivators. I was confident that you all could survive the exam even if it were a stretch for you to pass it. I thought exposure to the teamwork necessary for you to pass the first and second part of the exam would help strengthen the team's weakest point and that seeing opponents stronger than you might motivate you to work harder. It was not so much a choice based on ability, but a calculated move made by a desperate Jounin to try and save their failing team," he explains.

"And here, for all these years, I thought it was for the sake of your vanity or some sort of misplaced pride," Sakura remarks with a touch of sadness in her voice.

"That's at least better than me," Sasuke remarks with a thread of irony tainting his voice, "I half-believed you were trying to get us all killed so you wouldn't have to continue to deal with the troublesome brats we were at the time." His statement causes Naruto to laugh and Sakura to giggle while Kakashi gives him a deadpan look with a slight sparkle in his eye.

"I just thought I should ask," Naruto bites out as he tries to regain his breath and misplaced composure, "seeing how important of a turning point it was for all of us."

The humor drops from Kakashi's one visible eye, as he states with all the sincerity he has left, "letting you go and take the chunin exam is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Even then, as monstrous little brats who could hardly work together to save their lives, you had wormed your way into the small circle of people I allowed myself to get close enough too to care about. You had become members of my pack, and I hated having to put you in danger, even knowing it was necessary." His voice is pained, but there is a determination in his eye when he confesses, "When our team came apart, it very nearly broke me. I was about as bad off as the day Minato-sensei died, and had it not been for Tsunade allowing me to fade back behind the mask of an emotionless Anbu, I am not sure I would have survived. If you only do me one favor, let it be that you don't break up, and every last one of you outlives me. I don't know if I can survive the loss of any more of my pack." They all nod in solum agreement as Naruto mutters a vehement promise of 'never again,' before Kakashi continues in a much lighter tone. "This time though, taking in your considerable experience, I expect you to make chunin the first time around regardless of an invasion," and accompanies the statement with his signature eye smile.

Naruto takes it as the challenge it is and cries out, "you're on," with an enthusiastic grin reminiscent of a fox.

Sakura, on the other hand, has put down her medical text and gives an equally predatory smile before stating, "we'll make everyone else wish they were never born," while Sasuke just "Hn's" in agreement with a deadly light entering his eyes.

Kakashi smiles at their antics, realizing he couldn't be more proud of his team and their bloodthirsty reaction.

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It's past midnight when Tsunade wonders down to the basement where the seal is held to find Kaysarin running her sixth straight check on the seal array. She doesn't bother to conceal her presence but makes a point to stop before she steps foot on the seal before asking, "If I didn't ask about it would you have ever told me of our relation or released the seal on my memories?" 

Kaysarin sighs before standing and stretching out her tight muscles having decided that the seal is flawless, that stressing about it and glaring at it wouldn't change that fact, and unlike with Shikamaru she wouldn't be able to hold a conversation while trying to work. She strides over to stand in front of Tsunade before meeting her eyes, somewhat defiantly, and stating, "no. Even though it would make the mission more complicated and a much larger pain in the arse without you remembering, I would not have unlocked the seal on your memory without you asking me to do so."

Tsunade's voice is cold, deadly, and filled with anger as she clarifies, "So, you were planning on living the rest of your life isolated, alone and in pain even though I would be right within reach and only a broken seal away?" In return, she only receives a pained smile of confirmation from Kaysarin, and her voice rises in her ire, "you don't get to pretend with me, Tatakai! I know what this means for you and your clan! I know that you will be isolated and alone with them once you had gone through with this because even though they will follow you and respect your power, they will never be able to understand you, not even your sister will accept as much as she may try, and she was there when your brother died!"

"No two glasses break the same way," Kaysarin remarks sarcastically in an attempt to slow the tied of Tsunade's righteous fury.

"No, you don't get to do this," the enraged woman declares, "you don't get to push the world away and shut yourself up inside yourself behind fake smiles, pretty words, and sarcastic remarks because you're too afraid of losing people to let others get close to you again!" 

Kaysarin delicate control over her emotions snaps and her facade drops as she yells back at Tsunade, "but I was too late! I was too late for every last one of them, and because of my failures, you had to bury every last member of your clan! And, guess what, it broke you!" Her voice cracks on the last word, and there are tears in her eyes as her voice lowers, and her anger deflates. "It broke you. And, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to put you back together again."

Tsunade deflates as well, and her voice grows softer, becoming gentle even though now Kaysarin is refusing to look her in the eye. "It was never your job to fix me, and it was never your fault that they died. You are one of the few reasons there is anything left of the Senju." Tsunade grows tired of Kaysarin's attempts to avoid eye contact and cups ner jaw and brings the shorter woman's face up, so she has no choice but to look her in the eye before continuing. "One of these days, you're going to have to learn to accept the fact that you are not kami and it's not your job to save everyone, and that it wasn't your job to protect me from myself." Kaysarin's body trembles with unshed tears as Tsunade pulls her into an embrace and whispers into her ear, "you and I, we're going to go get a drink. Over that drink, we'll catch up, and you'll promise me to never do anything as foolish as trying to face the world alone when there is a person who would stand beside you within reach again. After that, you'll commit to trying to form bonds with the people going with us and never attempt to stop being my friend again."

Kaysarin gathers her lost composure before pushing herself out of Tsunade's grip and wiping the unshed tears from her eyes as she gives the other woman a worn smile and comments, "you're just as bossy as ever Tsunade, maybe even more so now."

"And you're just as stubborn as ever," Tsunade shoots back before stating, "but we are still going to get that drink," and proceeds to throw an arm over Kaysarin shoulder and drag her from the room to the nearest drinking establishment.

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They're all gathered in the basement around the seal, with more than half of them covered in blood ink seals. Naruto and Sasuke have seals on the chakra the sage gave them. Naruto, along with Killer Bee and Gaara, have seals to ensure the memory transfer for their Bijuu along with a new series of seals present on Naruto's skin for the memories and chakra remanents of the other tailed beast that Naruto is trying to bring back. The rest returning with there memories sealed have a different seal painted onto them, and Kakashi has a rather impressive seal covering one of his arms that will allow him to carry a portion of Kaysarins chakra sealed in it to the past with him. In the end, only nine of them remain untouched by Kaysarin's brush, and that includes the woman herself. 

"So how does this work again," Naruto asks as Kaysarin is finishing her final check over all of her seal work ending with the new seal she crafted for the sole purpose of attempting to fulfill his request.

She sighs at having to repeat herself but does it anyway. "We will all stand on our assigned position on the seal. I will then weave through a long series of hand seals, which may take up to five minutes to complete. I will then signal at the end of the seals, and we will all act like we're attempting a boss summons and bite our thumbs before slamming our hands down on the seal and flooding it with chakra. You only need to put in enough for a boss summons, no more and no less, but there is slight room for error. This does not mean you should feel free to drawl on any tailed beast chakra for if you do, you may throw off our entry point." At those words, she gives Naruto a look before swiveling her hard gaze to the rest of the people present in the room. When she is assured, her point has been made, she continues, "The seal will begin to glow and then activate fully. When it enables, you should feel a distinct tugging sensation as if you have been swept up on a wave, and you should wake up at midnight on the day of team assignments. It is rare, but occasionally you might see flashes of memories before waking up. Do not be alarmed if you do." Kaysarin gives another put upon sigh after finishing her explanation for the umpteenth time and then fishing her check over the last lines in the new seal. When she has confirmed the lines are right, she says, "alright, we're good to go."

Ay, who has become slightly impatient, asks, "Anyone have some last-minute desire to drop out." When no one replies, he continues, "Then let's get this thing started."

Each person takes their place on the seal. Their position forms a perfect circle halfway between the center of the seal and its outside edge. "This is the last call for dropping out," Kaysarin says. When she receives only looks of grim determination, she smiles and continues, "Then let's go," she says as she begins to weave a complex series of hand seals.

Her hands fly through hundreds of seals at a rate that would make even the best ninjutsu experts sweat to keep up with. In the end, she moves so fast that she finishes the series of seals in three minutes flat before stating, "now," and twenty people perform the last maneuver of the summoning jutsu in sync and flood the seal with chakra. Kaysarin looks up from her position at the other people present as the seal begins to glow and comments, "see you on the other side," as the glow becomes a blinding light. There is a tug and a pull as space collapses, causing a ripple and unraveling time. The world twist and turns like they're caught in a tsunami, and there is no way to tell which way is up. Then, suddenly, there is nothing, and twenty people open their eyes as if waking from a bad dream, but only twelve know why.


	5. My Genin Are Cuter Than Your Genin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here we go to begin again. Back where we started, we have returned, and now the only question that remains is how to start again. That and whose Genin are the cutest of them all. The least we should remember is that the "journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two popular analogies to how changes can affect reality. The first and most commonly known being a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a Tsunami elsewhere in the world. The other is that it doesn't matter where you build your sandcastle along the beach when the tide rolls in, for it makes no difference. The first is a way to say that the smallest of changes can have a drastic effect on the outcome, whereas in the other reflects that some changes won't matter in the long run due to the inevitability of the outcome occurring, like the sandcastle being washed away with the tide.

_The Boy is burning. The Flames consume everything that is him, licking greedily at the body, that in her mind's eye, is suspended in mid-air, somewhere between a jump and a landing. It's as if time stands still as his mouth, the only piece of him not consumed by flames, whispers, "I'm sorry" with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. Her world is in flames and smells of burning flesh as the now-dead body makes its descent towards the earth below. She sees red and feels her chakra flare as she fills with rage, and then nothing. She sees nothing at all._

***

Kaysarin sits bolt upright, sweat running down her face as she gasps for air. She notes dimly that she is apparently one of the unlucky few who sees their most traumatic memories when traveling. She pushes away the dredges of the memory turned nightmare as she manually slows her breath. She will not be going back to sleep tonight. Once she gathers her wits, she checks the calendar before glancing at the clock and is comforted to know that lousy dream aside, they have arrived right on time. She throws the sheets off of her and swings her legs off the bed before hefting herself up and heading towards the bathroom. There are things to be done, but before that, she needs a wash. The filling out of forms and preparing for travel can wait.

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Kaysarin was not the only one to experience a rude awakening. For another, it began in a too quiet house in front of a sliding door with the air smelling of coopery iron blood.

***

_He latched onto the door with trembling hands and slid it open only to be washed in the potent scent of blood and death. The first thing that registers about the prone figure on the tatami mats is that the shock of silver hair is stained red by the liquid. The next is the copious pool of the same substance staining the silvery strands that the body lays in, its crumpled form looking all too much like a puppet with its strings cut. He stumbles forward on shaking legs only to collapse to his knees in front of the figure in the crimson pond. A shaking hand comes up to trace the face holding the all too glassy eyes as a wobbling voice whispers "Tou-san," not willing to acknowledge the blade gripped in the dead man's hand, as tear stains add to the growing bloodstains on his pants from kneeling in the lake of blood._

***

_He is running through a cave as it collapses around him, and a hand pushes him clear of a falling boulder, leaving the person it belongs to too be crushed instead. He blinks, and now he is staring at an all too familiar face that asks him to take his eye and see the world with it. His friend's eye has repaced his ruined one, and the eye captures the minute details of the newly scared face of the boy he hadn't realized until now was his best friend. The boy's smile is pained and bloody, his eye an empty hole, and half his body is under a bolder as the dying boy makes him swear a promise to protect their remaining friend._

***

_He blinks again, and the next thing he knows, he's breaking that promise as a girl, far too young, lands between his deadly attack and the enemy ninja it's heading towards. He does everything he can to stop, but the momentum behind the strike is too much, and his hand is trusting through her beating heart and out the other side of her chest. His eyes widen, and his friends' final gift burns as it engraves the memory of her face onto his brain. Her bloody smile and the broken whisper of his name as the light leaves her eyes are the last thing he sees before his body gives out, and the world goes dark._

***

_The scene shifts again, and he is running through the remnants of a forest filled with fire, smoke, and corpses. He needs to get to them, but as the towering beast and poignant chakra filled with hatred disappear, he knows he is too late. He finds them in a clearing. A hole through both of their chests. Their bodies lying in front of an infant as it squirms and cries with a seal on its stomach. He lays them out carefully, hands coated in too much of their crimson red blood. He checks the corpses for any sign that they might still be alive until he is finally forced to resign himself to their deaths. Picking up the orphaned, and oh so vulnerable child, he clutches him close to his chest, trying desperately to comfort the baby with hands coated in its parents' blood._

***

_He is approaching the valley, desperately pushing himself to move faster despite knowing that he is already too late. The clash of chakra and the resulting shockwave have already told him as much. It is raining as he stumbles up to the broken body. The falling drops slowly washing away the blood and grime from the motionless form. The rain has removed the traces of sent so he cannot go after the boys' attacker, but as he checks, he finds the boy to still be alive. He picks up the broken body and rests it on his back before racing towards home. He was too late for one, but if he moves fast enough, he might just save the other._

***

Kakashi is upright with weapons pulled in a matter of seconds, his gifted eye spinning wildly as it shifts into its more advanced form. He is shaking and panting, eyes darting around so violently they threaten to come out of his head. It takes a long few minutes before he manages to even out his ragged breathing and quells the shaking in his limbs. He does a quick assessment and finds he's in his old apartment drenched with cooling sweat. The clock tells him the time and the calendar the date, and he vaguely notes that he's arrived right on time. It is only at the critical moments that he comes too late for death, he finds. He fumbles his way into the shower and cleans away the remnants of the nightmare from his being.

When he is done, he finds himself dressed in a clean uniform with Obito's eye back to normal and hidden under his hitaiate. The part of his face that is still visible is slightly pale, but it matters not. He has a stone to visit, a promise to make, and an important day to prepare for.

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None of the other returning with their memories unlocked experienced the same vivid nightmares as a result of their travels. Hence, after waking, they did nothing more than check the time and date as well as prepare their things for tomorrow before most went back to sleep.

The second time Naruto got up that morning, he prepared for his day. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and then stared at the clothes in his closet with no small amount of dismay. He could hardly believe that he wore such loud garments when he was younger. He puts them on regardless of his reservations about wearing them, knowing it would be too suspicious for him to suddenly change styles without reason. Besides, knowing his team, they were all most likely already plotting the outfits demise. On the bright side, he actually looked at the carton of milk, notices it is expired and decided to have instant ramen for breakfast instead, thereby avoiding the indigestion he initially experienced the first go around. After breakfast, he secured his hitaiate around his head and made his way to the academy.

He was sitting at the same table as a brooding Sasuke looking quite pleased with himself, mostly because everything was going as planned, and under Sasuke's icy facade, he could see his teammate peaking through when the boy came up. He didn't recognize the kid, which most likely meant that he would not be passing the graduation exam now or any time in the foreseeable future. The kid was trying to harass him and was questioning his presence here since he failed the graduation exam, but when he was about to retort Sakura came in and made her presence known by saying, "Hey, will you let me through and while you're at it trying using your eyes. Naruto is wearing a hitaiate, so obviously he passed, so why don't you go shove off and get a life."

With that said, the other boy scampered off in fear of Sakura's righteous indignation, and Naruto would have feared that she was going to give them away by failing to act appropriately if it weren't for her next words. "Naruto," she yelled, causing him to jump at her tone, "move your ass. I want to sit next to Sasuke." Her tone was one he knew too well and learned to fear over the years, so instead of protesting, he let her in rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. As soon as he moved out of the way, she slid in beside Sasuke and began to stare at him dreamily, or at least pretend to. He knew them both well and could see through the act. While Sakura appeared to be fawning over Sasuke, she was really hiding her amusement with how uncomfortable he was with all the attention, and Sasuke though looking to be brooding was doing his best not to flinch at the screaming fangirls. Naruto sank back in his chair and did his best to look depressed while glowering at them and secretly laughing on the inside. They remain like that until Iruka-sensei arrives to announce the team assignments. 

The team announcements go much the same as last time, with each of the formerly named Rookie nine doing their best to recreate their first reaction to the assignments. Naruto and Sakura cheer and become depressed at the appropriate times while Sasuke does his best to look indifferent through the whole process. The only real change is that Naruto doesn't rant about being put in a team with Sasuke and therefore isn't chewed out by Iruka-sensei.

When the team assignments are finished, and they break for lunch Naruto along with the rest of the Rookie nine discreetly make their way to a vacant classroom that Sasuke has coted in a mild genjutsu to deter anyone besides them from noticing the room. When everyone is present, Naruto activates a privacy seal he created the first time he woke up today. Once the privacy seal is up, they each recite their name, rank, and position they held in the army of the united shinobi alliance during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Once it has been confirmed that they have all successfully made the trip, palpable relief fills the room. They relax and eat lunch while reviewing the first part of the plan and going over the fine details. It is doubtful that they will be able to find time as well as an excuse to meet as a full group until the chunin exam in six months. It goes unsaid, but all present understand, after this, and unless in cases of extream emergencies, they're on their own. When their lunch break approaches the end, they trickle out from the room at staggered intervals with Sasuke leaving last and removing the genjutsu as he goes.

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Tenzo finds him at the memorial stone hours later, and glancing at him hurts like a physical ache. They couldn't bring him along, and he didn't want to come with. He is Tenzo, but at the same time, he is not Kakashi's Tenzo, at least not entirely, but he will get over the loss and learn to adapt. This is a mission, and for now, he will treat it as such to keep his emotions from running amuck. He does his absolute best to act normal as Tenzo leads him to meet the Hokage at Naruto's current apartment.

The apartment is filthy, with piles of trash and dirty clothes scattered in the corners of the room, and when he checks the pantry and fridge, he finds little more than spoiled milk and a plethora of packets of instant ramen. "So, this is Naruto's house," he remarks to the Hokage. It's smaller than he remembers it being and far more decrepit than it should be with water stains on the ceiling and flaking wallpaper. There are many things he can't fix, but mentally he decides that this is one of the things he can and will change.

"Yes, he's a moron, but I think giving him to you is best. You have a nose for these types," the aged Hokage answers before adding on. "Plus, your team will also have Sasuke of the Uchiha clan. Good luck."

The sound of the Hokage's voice guts him more than the site of a Tenzo that is only partly his, more so because for him, the man was dead less than a day ago, and their plan includes letting the wizen man die. He swallows down the emotions rising like bile in his throat and asks, "Who is my third, and where do they both live?"

The Hokage gives him a bit of an eye. Whether it's for the emotions trying to slip through or the question he doesn't know. The Hokage must come to the decisions that the inconsistencies in his behavior are likely a result of having his sensei's son on his team. A boy who he has been prevented from interacting with due to political reasons and answers anyway. "Haruno Sakura who lives in the civilian district with her parents. The Haruno's are a relatively well off merchant family. Sasuke still lives in the Uchiha compound, and I imagine he stays in the same house he was raised in. Both of their addresses should be in their files that you can pick up from the teachers at the academy," he finishes before asking. "Is that all?"

"Yes sir," he replies before executing a quick and seamless shunshin and heading to the academy to pick up his other student's files and check on their residences. There is an idea niggling the back of his mind, but before he can look into it further, he needs to check on their living conditions.

His first stop is the all but deserted Uchiha compound main family house. The place is in relatively good shape, but all it takes is a glance to tell that an adolescent boy has been making his home alone in the house for years. The pantry and fridge aren't nearly as bare as Naruto's, but the only vegetables or fruits he appears to have is tomatoes, and besides rice, most of the rest of his food is the instant kind. Sasuke's living condition isn't bad, he concludes, but they're not good either.

Before making his next stop, he takes some time to canvas the civilian district and sees what he can find about the Harunos. He doesn't like what he finds. Though the Haruno's don't appear to be particularly bad parents, they are known to leave their daughter at home alone for long periods while they go off on their own with only a neighbor assigned to occasionally checking in on her. Form what he can tell, it's been happening for many years. His reconnaissance tells him that Sakura's parents are gone far more often than not and that they have been leaving her to mostly fend for herself almost since she was five years old. Furthermore, many of their neighbors confirmed that the Harunos are amongst the many civilians that dislike shinobi, and that they held out hope for many years that their daughter would quit that 'ninja nonsense' and become a proper lady.

Looking at her house further confirms his intel. The kitchen is well stocked, but only one of the bedrooms looks lived in. The house itself speaks of no small amount of money but is almost entirely devoid of photographs. It quite frankly hardly seems lived in and lacks any of the homey vibes that he usually gets from houses with functional families inside. It's suddenly all to clear why Sakura moved into her own apartment almost immediately after she became Tsunade's apprentice, as well as the odd almost parent-child relationship the two share.

Even with his reconnaissance and planing tacked onto his meeting with the Hokage, he still somehow manages to make it back to the academy earlier than he did the first go around. He is by no means early, It's not like he can go off and break that particular habit without raising too many red flags, and there is an eraser waiting for him in the partially open door. It's part of the code he established with his team before they left. Dodging the eraser signals that they are likely being watched and need to continue acting their age. Getting hit by the eraser indicates that he does not believe they are being watched so they can relax a little on their act but should stay alert. The warning is mostly in place to deal with the Hokages crystal ball.

Naturally, he dodges the offending eraser, watching it fall harmlessly to the floor, standing back from the opened door. He gives it, then his team turned cute little genin an unimpressed look before stepping through the door without comment. Naruto is doing his level best to appear inocent and failing. Sakura is sending an accusing look at him but does not verbally out the blond for his failed prank, while Sasuke, on the surface, appears to be ignoring them entirely while protectively scanning their surroundings for any visible threats.

He gives them all a deadpan look that all but screams, 'you're fooling no one,' before putting on a contemplative look and stating, "Hmm... How can I say this? My first impression is I hate you," ending his statement with an eery eye smile, causing every last one of them to frown and put on a mask of depression and annoyance. It would probably work against someone who does not know them as well as he does, but he sees right through it. Naruto's eyes are a little too happy, Sakura's lips are twitching slightly as she does her best to hold in a laugh and Sasuke is hiding fond amusement behind his less than icy stare. They have yet to exchange their code words. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but he relaxes minutely when he sees his students of many years in the eyes of his fresh-faced genin. He gives them another eye smile, one that is a touch fonder and much more a reflection of his true feelings as he tells them to meet him on the roof and shunshins away.

It takes the rest of Team seven a few minutes to scale the stairs while moving at a civilian's pace before settling in the same spot they had taken last time. This is the moment of truth. Once each of them says the code word in their introduction, it will be confirmed that they all made it back safely. He begins the introduction's in the same way that he did last time, saying, "Ok... Let's begin with some introductions."

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asks.

"How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that," he replies.

"Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto inquires in a childish voice as he leans forward on the step he occupies.

"Yeah, you first Sensei," Sakura agrees while Sasuke holds his silence.

It's showtime now he thinks to himself. "Who me," he says with a bored look on his face. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like to read. I dislike green jumpsuits. Dreams for the future... well, I have a rabbit problem I need to address. Hobbies, that's none of your business," he says, finishing with one of his patent eye smiles. The expression of the three genin faces does not appear to change on the surface. Still, their papable relief is visible in the slight relaxation of their posture as Sakura's lips begin to twitch again, and Naruto breaks into a massive grin as he finishes by sating, "your turn, from the right."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Ichuraku's ramen, and I dislike rabbits, and the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to cook," Naruto begins confirming for Kakashi that he's made it too. "My dream is to become the Hokage and surpass all who came before me while protecting my precious people. Hobbies, I like playing pranks."

Sasuke starts next without any prompting on Kakashi's part. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like tomatoes, and I dislike traitors. My dream is to restore my clan and kill a certain man. For hobbies, I like to hunt rabbits while working on my survival skills," he finishes signaling to Kakashi that he has made it as well.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she begins without waiting for a signal. "I like books, and I dislike when rabbits eat the herbs I am growing in my garden. My dream for the future is to become the world's strongest Konohichi, and my hobby is studying jutsu." With Sakura's introduction finished, Kakashi can relax in the knowledge that they all made it back intact.

"Now that we all know each other, I need to tell you that you still have one more test to pass before you officially becoming genin; however, this one has a failure rate of 66%." He gives his team time to have the appropriate reaction to that news before continuing, "the test will be survival training with you all pitted against me. We will be meeting at the training field bright and early. Bring all of your shinobi tools and skip breakfast," he adds while knowing they'll eat breakfast regardless of his warning. "The details are on this printout," he says while handing the sheet with the information printed on it to each one of them. There is also a note on the back to meet in Location One in an hour. He gives the group one last eye smile before leaving them behind as he makes his way across the roofs of Konoha.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later finds the entirety of Team seven gathered in the head of the Uchiha clans house, which they dubbed Location One before departing on their mission. Kakashi left a shadow clone out in about to continue his regular routine, and Naruto made a shadow clone for himself and another hinged as Sakura to do the same for them. Seeing as they are meeting in Sasuke's house, there was no need for him to make a diversionary clone to cover his tracks.

They meet up in one of the few windowless rooms that the clan head used to hold important meetings in and comes with the added benefit of already having privacy seals painted on its walls. That doesn't stop Kakashi from whipping out his own portable privacy seal tag and engaging it after Sasuke finishes setting traps, while Naruto confirms they are alone after drooping into sage-mode. Once secured, the facades they have been holding onto for most of the day drop away, and an aura of seriousness fills the room. "Report," Kakashi says in what his team calls his Hokage voice, but he prefers to think of as his team captain voice.

"Hai sensei," Sakura responds instantly. "I can confirm that all members of the Rookie nine have arrived safely and that there are no injuries amongst them. My chakra reserves are higher than they previously were at this age, but my physical body is back to shit, and as we suspected, my yin seal did not make the trip with me," she reports.

"I have reawakened my Sharingan fully although I now lack the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. My chakra levels are also slightly higher than when I was a genin before. I can tell that the seal containing the chakra the sage gave me made it back as well, but it remains safely locked away," Sasuke reports after Sakura finishes.

"I can talk with Kurama, but the seal had returned to how it was when my dad first made it. As you just saw, I can still enter sage-mode, but my connection to the toads is gone. All of the pieces of charka that I brought back with me have made it safely and remain sealed within me. Kurama made it safely but is napping off his exhaustion now that he is missing half of his chakra, seeing as it is still sealed away with my dad," Naruto rattles off.

"Good," Kakashi responds, "just as we predicted. I still have the seal with Kaysarin's chakra looked away on me as well. I have confirmed I can access it in case of an emergency, but have otherwise left it sealed. While you will all suffering thru team assignments, I managed to scope out a few things discreetly before we had to meet up and have confirmed that we are almost certainly in our own past and not another dimension. With my extra time, I managed to check out a few other things and have used the information to think of a plan that should allow us to spend much more time together without raising any red flags. Still, I need your opinions on the matter before I set in motion," he finishes vaguely."

"What's your idea," Sakura asks, always the curious one.

"Well, the Sandaime showed me Naruto's apartment, and the condition was not good." His words prompt Naruto to rub his head sheepishly. "So, I decided to check out everyone else's living conditions and was not pleased with what I found." Sasuke grimaces, and Sakura starts playing with her shirt nervously while avoiding making eye contact with anyone else in the room. Naruto appears to notice the tension in the room and looks at his two teammates with growing concern, but doesn't interrupt.

"Naruto quite frankly lives in a dump, and Sasuke has no business living where his family was murdered. But, Sakura, if I may ask when was the last time your parents came home," he queries with genuine concern leaking in his tone in spite of his efforts to keep it out.

Sakura winces at the question and finds the concerned gazes of her teammates fixed on her when she manages to pry her eyes up from staring at her fidgeting hands. "Ahh, maybe two months ago. I'm not sure. They're gone most of the time, but the grannie next door always checks on me. It's not that bad. My parents are, at the very least, still alive."

The looks on her teammates' faces clearly say that it is, in fact, inadequate and that they're unhappy she never bothered to say anything about it. Kakashi eyes her seriously as he continues his previous line of questioning, "Sakura, what do your parents think about you being a ninja?"

This time her reaction to his words is even more pronounced, and she begins to play nervously with her hair under their scrutinizing looks before finally confessing, "they don't really approve. They believe that the job is too dangerous and would rather I became a proper lady. However, they are resigned to it at this point and have stopped trying to convince me to quit, but my father has informed me that he expects me to leave the house once I can support myself." Sasuke scowls at that statement and looks somewhat like he is contemplating murder, while Naruto looks sad and confused and mildly like he is gearing up to chew someone out, and Kakashi maintains a carefully blanked face. "They never tried to stop me from becoming a shinobi," she defends weakly at her teammates' looks. The 'they never helped me either' remains unspoken but understood by all, and Sakura visibly deflates in the face of attempting to keep anything from her teammates that have become her family in a way her parents never were.

Kakashi lets out a sigh, "I figured that was the case after talking with your neighbors," he confirms. "I did do some investigation of my own this morning, but I appreciate you confirming my suspicions. I'm pretty sure that you all know that once you make genin, you are legally considered an adult in Konoha," he continues. They all nod in confirmation before he moves on. "What you might not know is that for the areas where you are not considered an adult, it falls to your jounin sensei to act as your legal guardian in the absence of a parent or other guardian. As such, I am legally responsible for the health and safety of my students; this is especially true since Naruto and Sasuke lack other guardians, and Sakura's appear to be of the absentee verity as well as being civilians. Should anything happen to one of you that requires you to have a guardian or leaves you incapable of making decisions for yourselves, I will be notified, and they will come directly to me with any problem first. Although this is not true for most teams because usually at least one or more of the students already have someone who is a shinobi and their legal guardian."

Most of his team is giving him funny looks while trying to figure out how this could be important, but there appears to be the beginnings of understanding flashing in Sakura's eyes. "What you also might not know is that although I am the last member of the Hatake clan, my clan still has a compound though it is in disuse," he continues as the understanding in Sakura's eyes grows and begins to blossom in Sasuke's. "It is little more than an old traditional style house with a sizeable training field and some gardens in disrepair protected by old-fashion protection seals. It is in better shape than Naruto's apartment, has fewer ghosts than the Uchiha compound, and has appliances that still functioned the last time I checked. It hasn't been well maintained over the year's, hasn't been lived in over a decade, and we might need Tenzo to take a look into making some repairs, but overall it's not a terrible place to live and should be capable of housing all four of us with plenty of room to spare."

"So what you are proposing," Sakura says slowly, as she works the words over in her mind, "is reopening your clan compound. Then, having us all move in and live together while using your rights as, what is essential, our primary guardian to justify the action. That would certainly take care of proper living conditions," She adds, looking lost in thought with a contemplative look adorning her face. "Do you believe you can get the Sandaime to agree to that," she asks as if struck with a lightning-quick thought.

"Technically, he has no right to interfere, but that is beside the point. Either way, if I say the right thing, I think I can get him to agree," Kakashi says.

"It would certainly be easier for us to set up and mount a defense with all of us living in the same place," Sasuke muses aloud, "and although I never really thought about living with you lot, there is very little chance that it could be worse than the time I spent living with the snake."

"It will certainly make my job easier to only have to install one set of privacy seals, but, sensei, are you sure about moving back into the house where your father died? And, won't it attract Danzo's attention," Naruto asks soberly.

"I wouldn't have offered to reopen the compound if I wasn't okay with it. I have already made peace with my father's death," Kakashi answers honestly before continuing. "It might attract Danzo's attention, but as long as we play our cards right and set up a solid defense, it should be easy enough to protect ourselves while keeping out of Danzo's machinations, and preventing Danzo's spies from entering the compound. It would also serve the dual purpose of keeping his attention on us and away from the others," Kakashi concludes.

Silence overtakes the room as they all mull that over for a while. It would be a change, but as long as they play it right, it would be of the sandcastle verity and not the butterfly version, and therefore, not have much of an overall effect. In theory, once they have secured the location, it will also provide a safe place for them all to meet up away from prying eyes and give justification for Team sevens unwavering loyalty towards one another. It should allow for extra training time to assist the rapid ability growth of every member of Team seven that Shikamaru's plan demands. Team eight and ten should be having their own radical growth spurts. Still, it is Team seven's job to grow at the rate of monsters and thereby overshadow the other two teams and divert attention away from them until the Chunin exam begins, and Tsunade makes her return to become the Hokage.

"I think the idea has considerable merit," Sasuke finally states, "and I think we should do it."

"I agree with Sasuke," Naruto affirms, "my only question would be whether we should notify the others before taking action or try to consult Shikamaru. I could send a clone out if need be," he offers.

"Don't," Kakashi says hurriedly and stops Naruto before he can start forming any signs, "It will be too suspicious if you were to get caught. We can not risk it."

"Yes," Sakura agrees, " a clone is a bad idea," and Naruto wilts a little at her confirmation. "Besides, we all established that after the meeting we had today, we would be on our own as teams. As long as it follows Shikamaru's plan and isn't an emergency, we are free to act on our own judgment and of our own will," Sakura states before turning her gaze to look Kakashi square in the eye. "I am also on board with the plan," she confirms, "so do what you need to too set it in motion sensei."

"Can I take your earlier remark to signify that the bell test is likely to be watched," Sasuke asks Kakashi redirecting the conversation on to the next order of business.

"Yes," Kakashi confirms, "it was watched the first time around as well, but I have a plan for that too. Here's how will play it," he says while he and his students lean in conspiratorially, and he drops his voice, although the action is unnecessary in the secured room they occupy. "During the test, we will all restrict ourselves to the same jutsus we used the first time around along with the academy three. That means Sasuke has the great fireball, Naruto has his shadow clones, and Sakura is sadly stuck with the basics. I will have the academy three and one other jutsu of my choosing; however, I do not expect you to act the same way you did last time nor torpedo your teamwork. Besides the jutsu restraint and sticking to basic taijutsu," he eyes Sakura at this point, and she blushes faintly in embarrassment at being called out, "feel free to attack however you think best and act how you please while still embodying your childish personas. Just remember to use teamwork at some point, so I have justification for passing you," He finishes sitting back on his heels now that the conspiracy planning is done.

There is some grumbling at the restrictions, but despite being unhappy, they all understand that the limitation is in place, so they don't expose themselves as having knowledge that they shouldn't yet have acquired at this time. "So when should we _actually_ be at the training grounds," Naruto asks in a slightly disgruntled voice once he has finished his grumbling.

"Ahh," Kakashi says before breaking into a happy eye smile, "you should be there by seven, but it will be suspicious if I am earlier than nine." There is even more grumbling at that remark, but Kakashi ignores it and forges on, "you should feel free to eat breakfast, though." Kakashi spares the clock in the corner of the room a glance before letting his smile fade and stating, "I need to leave soon, so if there is nothing else." When all of his students shake their heads 'no,' he continues, "then I will see you tomorrow," he finishes before removing the privacy seal. He gives Naruto just enough time to confirm that the surroundings are clear before he makes his exit leaving no trace of his presence behind.

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Elsewhere in the village, the Hokage is wondering why everyone on Team seven appears to have a problem with rabbits. He also can't help but wonder about the contemplative look that took over Kakashi's face this morning. It has been years since he has seen that look, and it has rarely crossed his face since he was forced to bury his sensei, but it's is still a look the Hokage recognizes. When that look enters Kakashi's eyes, it signals his protective instincts kicking in, and he delves deep in thought to find the solution to countering whatever threat he has found is jeopardizing the safety of those he cares about. The Hokage can't help but wonder if the light that has finally reappeared in Kakashi's eyes is a direct result of him letting the young man into Naruto's life. It might be too early, but the Hokage still decides to dare to hope that maybe, just maybe, the team he assigned Kakashi might due him a world of good. 'I hope you all pass his test,' the Hokage thinks to himself.

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The next day, the three genin members of Team seven met up at their usual training ground just before seven and with all the tools of the ninja trade that they currently own. Sakura had pulled her hair back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Besides that, none of them changed their appearances from what they had been the day before. They knew that Kakashi-sensei likely had a plan to get them into better clothes for being a ninja, and if they were to change their clothes for no apparent reason on their own, it would draw too much attention. So, instead, they waited for their teacher to do his job and make them change out their current clothes for something more practical for those who wished to be a ninja.

They gathered in the same place as last time, in front of the training post in the middle of the open field; however, this time, they did not wait around impatiently for a teacher they knew was going to be late but instead used their time wisely. Naruto promptly found a shady spot to rest and went back to sleep. Sakura stretched out and ran through several basic warm-up katas they taught at the academy. After finishing her warm-up, she did some cool-down stretches before joining Naruto in the shade to rest. Sasuke plopped himself down next to Naruto before pilling out all of his weapons and wet stone and sharpening his blades. None of them ever said that this time, they would be taking the bell test as a team, but the way they gathered together said it all without any of them having to utter a word.

Kakashi arrived at the time he said he would, which was about two hours late, and was greeted by the sound of Naruto and Sakura's unison shout of, "YOU'RE LATE!" Their grumbling frustration at his tardiness, though fake, was a boon to his spirits as he got them to settle down and quickly explained the bell test.

The bell test this go-around was utterly different than the first time. For starters, Naruto didn't jump the gun and rush to start the fight before Kakashi could say begin. Secondly, even though they scattered to the wind when Kakashi gave them the signal to start, they coordinated all of their attacks as a team offten using basic hand signs taught by the academy to send messages. Lastly, Kakashi did not even attempt to bring out his book to do some light reading once during the test, although he did as promised and never used his Sharingan. They started with a basic Taijutsu match using forms from the academy, and those Sasuke learned before his clan was wiped out, before progressing into weaponry and from there into ninjutsu and genjutsu. This go-around went much better than the last time for the genin of Team seven though, at the end, when the timer went off, Kakashi still had both bells. That and they came out the other side looking somewhat worse for wear. Their clothes would need to be trashed because there was no way for them to be stitched back together after the mess Kakashi made of them. They were all still standing, but that was mostly a result of will power gained over their years of experience, and they were all pretty much dead on their feet were as Kakashi was hardly breathing any heavier than he was at the start.

Kakashi was already making a plan for training and how best to destroy the remaining outfits that his genin currently owned. He figured one or two more training sessions would spell the end of their current fashion sense. This means that he needs to put in a special-order for better uniforms at the shinobi store for them to wear tonight and rush the delivery, so he isn't forced to destroy whatever else they would buy next. If all else fail and the new uniforms don't arrive in time, well, he is an elite jounin of the village, and it would certainly be within his skill set for him to change out the content of all of their closets then burn what he had to remove. All for the safety of the village and its people, of course. Actually, that plan was sounding better and better the longer he was forced to stare at his blond knucklehead in that eye-searing orange, his ferocious pink-haired student in that bloodstain colored dress, and his 'prodigal child' Uchiha in those 'I'm right here' white shorts and a stupidly high collared shirt.

His cute little genin had finally sat themselves down in front of the post and waited for him to say his piece while each looking slightly disgruntled at their failure to steal the bells from him. "Maa," he draws, "your certainly different than the other teams I've tested. None of them ever tried to work together, and they all just listened to everything I said and followed blindly, but I don't believe any of you are the type to just follow the rules blindly."

"Hell no Sensei," Naruto declares with renewed stamina, thrusting a fist in the air, that just shouldn't be humanly possible while his other two teammates nodded in agreement.

"So you didn't get the bells," Kakashi continues as if he was never interrupted, "but you did attack as a team. So, why attack as a team if any success would still result in one of you returning to the academy?"

"Because you're a Jounin sensei," Sakura answers, "and as a newly minted genin, there is no way any of us could take you down by ourselves, which leaves the only option of working as a team. Besides, isn't Konoha known for our incredible teamwork?"

He gives her a happy eye smile and says, "that's correct, Sakura," before putting on a serious face and continuing, "You should always remember that, those who break the rules are codes of the ninja world are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He puts back on his happy eye smile and finishes, "with that said, you all pass."

"What but why sensei," Naruto exclaims entirely in character.

"Because the purpose of this test wasn't to see if you could get the bells but if you could work as a team. Even with all three of you coming at me with everything you have wouldn't have made a difference if I took you seriously. I have been a Jounin for more than a decade, and no one expects three genins with no experience to win against those odds. Just trying to work together is enough to pass the test," he answers. Kakashi walks over to the memorial stone, and his three genin get up to follow him as he gains a solemn air. "From this point on, we are a team, which means each of you has just become one of my precious comrades that I care about deeply. However, everyone I have ever cared about has gotten their name carved onto this stone. From my best friend to my sensei, every last one of them is here on a memorial to our honored dead. They were all heroes who fought and died for our village in the line of duty. Still, that doesn't make their deaths any easier to stomach. I wouldn't ask you to promises me not to get your names cared onto this stone, but I do ask that you do your level best not to get your names added onto it."

Kakashi stares at the monument a while longer before he finally turns around to face his cute little genin with a happy eye smile and a clap of his hands breaking the pensive mood. "Now, who's up for lunch," he asks.

"Oh, oh, me, me sensei," Naruto exclaims while jumping up and down and waving his hands in the air, "Can we get ramen."

"Only if your paying for it sensei, and ramen is nowhere on the menu," Sakura states after using her fist to introduce Naruto's face to the ground.

As naruto picks himself off the ground, rubbing at the back of his head, Sasuke snorts in amusement and says, "Hn, dope."

"What was that teme," Naruto shouts in response.

"How about we pick one of the Akimichi restaurants," Sakura says, ignoring the argument and trying to divert the two boys from a fight.

Kakashi just sighs to cover up his fond amusement and pulls out his book while he starts walking towards Yakiniku Q with his three arguing genin trailing behind him. Some things never change, he reflects.

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Kakashi ends up leaving early from their imprompt to team dinner so that he could arrive just in the nick of time, on time for his expected tardy habits, that is, to officially report Team seven's passing to the Hokage. He did, however, leave money to cover the bill along with a healthy tip. Much as people liked to believe his bill dogging habits were a result of an emptying wallet, there was simply no way he could work in Anbu for a decade without making a small fortune. He actually ended up surprising everyone by being only thirty minutes late, which was his minimum expected wait time, and by actually using the door. This, however, did not stop him from pulling out his precious book nor keep him from leaning against the back wall and preceding to pretend to ignore the entire room while discreetly observing all present, including the Anbu hidden in the corners of the room.

The result is the exact same as it was the last time around to his relief. It meant that the other six genins had done there job, and the code word Kurenai managed to slip into her repot confirmed to Kakashi she had also made it safe and sound. Asuma manages to invite him out for drinks with Kurenai to commune over their new duties as senseis and the quirks of their students, which Kakashi accepts, but he does not leave the room with the rest of the jounin. Kakashi instead waits for Sandaime to notice that he is not going and ask what is holding him back while stowing his precious book safely away.

As the door to the Hokage's office closes behind the exiting jounin, Hiruzen eyes him as he refills his pipe. Lighting it, he breathes in the smoke as if it is a gift from Kami or will somehow save him from the coming conversation before blowing it out to begin the discussion. "Yes, Kakashi, what can I do for you?" he asks somewhat wearily, realizing that he might just be learning what had caused that particular look to come into Kakashi's eye the day before.

Kakashi relaxes his posture slightly from the tense and formal stance he had assumed before drawling, "Maa Hokage-sama, you need not do anything," he says before pausing to move into a more authoritative stance and continuing. "Twelve years ago, when Minato-sensei died, you expressly forbid me from interacting with Naruto without a justifiable reason in hopes of keeping Naruto's identity as his son a secret. I understand why you did it, but now that I am officially that boy's sensei, I have every reason to be a part of his life." He pauses to give the Hokage a hard eye as if daring him to contest him on the matter, to which the Hokage only chews thoughtfully on his pipe, before he continues. "After you showed me his current living conditions, I can now say I am frankly appalled by them. Both of his parents were elite jounin for the village, and they must have left him more than enough money to live somewhere else besides that dump. I then checked on the living conditions of my other two students only to be further horrified by how they live. Sasuke has no right to be left to live where he saw his entire family killed by his brother and with absolutely no adult supervision. I don't know who decided that was a good idea, but you might want to get them checked for competency. Lastly, I don't know if you are aware, but Sakura's parents very much dislike ninja's although they have made no move to persuade her to go on to a different path in years. They are gone far more offten from the village than not to the point when I asked her when she had last seen her parents she reported that it was more than two months ago," he all but rants in his monotone voice he uses for giving a standard report.

"Furthermore, the only adult supervision the girl has is a retired elderly neighbor that her parents had paid to check and make sure she is alive at least once a day. That neighbor was relieved of her duties when Sakura graduated from the academy to become a legal adult. They have also encouraged her to move out as soon as she can afford to do so, so that they may sell the house," Kakashi finishes.

He gives the slightly slack-jawed Hokage time to digest that information before moving on. "As their jounin-sensei and therefore default guardian, I am here to officially report that I am concerned about the safety of their living conditions. I believe it would be counterproductive to their nutritional health, mental health, and overall security to leave them where they are currently. Henceforth I would like to declare that I am using my rights as their legal guardian to act per their well being to remove them from their current living conditions. I have already finalized the paperwork with the civilian council, which is why I was late for today's meeting. I am planning on reopening the Hatake compound and will be moving into it with my genin team as soon as it is feasibly possible. I have already received the agreement of every member of my team to do so."

The Hokage has started to go a little white, and his pipe is hanging from his numb finger as he looks like he is about to protest Kakashi's action before the man before him cuts him off. "I have already gone over the laws and precedence for these situations and have confirmed I am within my legal rights to take these actions. Furthermore, I have confirmed with the civilian council that I am well within my rights, and I have already applied for full guardianship for all three of my genin along with Sakura's emancipation from her parents, which have passed." Kakashi pauses to take a deep breath before finishing by stating, "You entrusted me with their safety and to train them to the best of my abilities, which is what I am currently endeavoring to do. This is merely an official notice for your sake. Everything is already said and done," Kakashi finishes.

The Hokage briefly spares a thought for how terrifying the boy's, no man's, genius can be when brought to the task he wishes to accomplish, even where it concerns political maneuvering. It has been a long time since he has been so surprised and outmaneuvered like that. The aged man steeples his hands and stares down the man renowned as the copy-cat ninja, who doesn't even bat an eye at the full attention of the one known as the professor and current god of shinobi. "What happened to you, Hatake Kakashi," he asks with concern, curiosity, and weariness lacing his tone. If it is what he suspects, and the boy has finally found a reason to get up and keep living his life than he might have just secured his spot as the next Hokage and it would only take Hiruzen a year to prepare him for such a role and plop the hat on his head to finally retire again. He can't help but hope that is the reason, and nothing more sinister has occurred, but seeing how the boy still acts as himself, he doesn't find it in himself to believe that to be true.

Kakashi posture relaxes again as he directs his gaze at the ceiling and draws out, "Maa Hokage-sama. I was wandering around lost on the road of life when yesterday I looked up only to find before me the things I had already lost once," he answers vaguely while still managing to convey to the Hokage exactly why he changed.

The Hokage eyes him questioningly but is satisfied with what he finds. Yes, the boy will do, and if all goes well, he will be rid of the hat in little more than a year. He relights his pipe that has since gone cold only to breathe it in and release the smoke in a sigh as he states, "since you appear to have the agreement of your genin and all your paperwork in order, I will not be trying to stop you, though you might still wish to be wary of other concerned parties." 

Kakashi nods his understanding of the warning, then turns to the doors and starts walking out only to stop once he reaches them and shots a parting comment over his shoulder. "You entrusted me with them Hokage-sama, so I hope you don't mind when I turn my cute little genin into cute little monsters that can tear apart armies. Oh, and you might want to advise those other concerned parties that Konoha's white wolf is awake and no longer intends to pose as a sleeping hound." With that, he exits the room, knowing Danzo's little spies will inform him of this conversation and get the corrupt elder's attention focused on them and away from the rest of the team. Kakashi can only hope the man makes the fatal mistake of trying to take what is his so that he can send him on his merry way to the afterlife.

The Hokage sits back in his chair and can't help but spare a thought for the monster his actions have just created. The good news is this newly born monster is fiercely loyal to Konoha and its interest and has already proven his immunity to Danzo's corrupting touch. Yes, unless something drastic occurs to change things, he can't help but believe that Konoha's next Hokage just walked out the door.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Kakashi does after leaving the Hokage's office is locate Tenzo, who he knows for a fact is off duty to ask his old kohai a favor. When he finds the man, he hands him enough cash to pay for a B rank mission and asks him nicely to help him asses the structural integrity of the Hatake clan compound and fix anything in need of repair. Tenzo, though startled by Kakashi's request, follows his senpai to the Hatake compound, where Kakashi opens it for him to inspect and repair. He tells Kakahi he will have all the repairs done within the hour, and the Hatake leaves him to it with instructions to reseal the compound when he goes.

Kakashi's next stop takes him to the shinobi store, where he places a rush order for new uniforms, weapons, and weapon pouches for his cute little genin. Paying for the items ahead of time and instructing them to deliver the order to the Hatake compound when finished. The man behind the counter assures him that he will have everything ready and brought the Hatake compound before five in the afternoon tomorrow. He then proceeds to stop by his apartment and seals all of his worldly possessions away in a scroll before heading off to Naruto's apartment to give his stuff the same treatment. After that, he and Naruto make their way to Sakura's house and help her empty the place of her possessions and leave a note for her parents to find notifying them of her changed guardianship and where she has moved to. Lastly, they head to the Uchiha compound, and Naruto uses his clones to scours the place for anything useful that they might wish to bring with them. By the time the Uchiha compound has been thoroughly searched, and all of their belongings have been removed from their former abodes, it is well past the hour Tenzo told Kakahi he would need to make repairs to the house. So, they meander their way through the village to find the Hatake compound looking as good as new and Tenzo waiting outside for Kakahi.

When Tenzo spots the genin following their sensei, he raises his eyebrows but says nothing as Kakashi directs them into the house with instructions to wait for him in the kitchen. When the children are gone, he tells Kakashi, "I have managed to repair all of the damage the house has sustained and then confirmed that all appliances are in working order. If you want me to, I can replace those as well as long as you provide me with a budget to do so. Gai has also found it fit to inform me that it is necessary to furnish the house; however, I was not aware of what you might already own. So, I have withheld from doing anything besides creating basic furnishings for the bedrooms and a dining room table with chairs. If you would like anything else, I can retrieve it for you," Tenzo offers.

Kakashi highly suspects that the Hokage has instructed Tenzo to help make their move into the Hatake compound as smooth as possible but does not mind using it to his advantage. He takes out more cash and hands it to Tenzo as he says with a happy eye smile, "Maa, I have such a good kohai. That would be wonderful, Tenzo. As far as furniture goes, I need to furnish the living room, an office with enough space for four of us, a formal sitting room, a library, some new futons and sheets for all of the beds, and to restoke the kitchen with pots, pans, knives, cutlery, and dishes." Tenzo looks a little daunted by the extensive list, but simply nods his confirmation. "I knew I could trust you with this important task," he tells the poor man before handing him more cash and waving him off as Tenzo disappears in a seamless shunshin.

Entering the house, he finds his cute little genin in the kitchen arguing over something pointless, which he quickly breaks up by clapping his hands together and offering them all a tour of the compound. He leads them from room to room and lets each select a bedroom since he has already claimed his. After the grand tour is finished, he tells them of the errands Tenzo is currently running for them to the great amusement of his team. After they have all placed their stuff into their room, they quickly go about divvying up duties. Sakura leaves almost immediately with a hand full of cash and orders to buy enough food to fully stock both the fridge and pantry. Sasuke is put on trap dutty and handed freshly bought tools of the trade with instruction to find and replace all old traps and secure the permitter by adding on new ones. That leaves Naruto and Kakashi with a vat of sealing ink and the dubious pleasure of resealing the property to keep it safe from prying eyes, ears, and as many forms of attack as possible.

Sakura returns three hours later, loaded down with groceries and the members of team ten in tow equally as loaded. He spares the time from his work to thank the grumblers and briefly check in with Shikamaru, who reports that it is all clear on his end and that he approves of their plan even if he finds it a little brash. Then Team ten departs with Ino and Sakura having managed to restore their friendship and rivalry, at least in the eyes of those not on the team form the future. An hour later, Tenzo returns with his own group of jounin in tow to deliver the furniture and install the appliances, to find Naruto and Kakashi finishing off their last seal for the day and Sasuke and Sakura working on the last of the traps. With the help of all of his curious colleagues, they manage to get the whole house furnished in less than an hour before he is forced to wish his genin goodnight as he is dragged out of the compound by an over-exuberant Gai yelling something about youth and crying. Kakashi just manages to seal the Hatake compound as he is dragged away by his friends to the goodbye wave of his traitorous genin that did nothing to stop his kidnapping.

Over drinks, Asuma complains about how his team though good at strategy lacks motivation, and Kurenai reflects how her's could use some significant personality development. Kakashi confirms for Kurenai that he has made it by bemoaning his rabbit problem before he is thrown into an interrogation by all of his concerned colleagues. "So, what made you finally pass a team?" Asuma asks. 

"They all show great potential and could amount to something exceptional with enough care and training, and though they lack teamwork, the seeds are there," Kakashi answers.

"Is that why you decide to reopen the Hatake compound and have your team move in with you," Kurenai inquires.

"Nothing so simple," Kakashi refects, "two of my students are orphans, so I decided to check on the living conditions of all three, and what do I find? One of them lives in a dump, another resides were they witnessed their whole clan die, and the last returns to an empty house with parents who are seldom there. Of course, I couldn't let my newly acquired pups continue to live in such unhealthy environments."

"My cool and hip rival is showing his youthfulness by taking care of his newly acquired students," Gai gushes with tears streaming down his face, while Gemma grimaces at the state the children were living in beforehand.

"Are you sure you're not getting attached to them a bit too quickly, senpai," Tenzo queries while swirling his drink nervously in his glass.

"Nonsense Tenzo. I told myself years ago that if I ever found a team worth passing, I wouldn't stop training them into the ground until I can make them into the type of monsters who decimate armies. Once I passed them, I was already doomed to be stuck with them for the years to come until they reach the status of jounin because there is no way any student of mine is retiring as a chunin. This way, I can look after them better, and in a few months, their teamwork will have either drastically improved or I will have found a new place to hide a body."

The conversation devolved from there with each person taking great care to trade out Gai's drink with water when he went reaching for the sake. By the time he returned to the Hatake compound, he had dragged a drunk Gemma home and was slightly buzzed himself. What he found was a tightly sealed compound with traps set all around and the lights off. After entering and resealing the compound, he checked and found all of his genin fast asleep and fully moved into their individual rooms. He spared some time to unpack his meager possessions before falling into bed and into blissful sleep. The pups were all secure in the house and sleeping soundly, and all was right with the world. Not only that, but no matter how much Asuma and Kurenai insisted otherwise, he was secure in the knowledge that his genin are the cutest of them all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is now completed.


	6. A Team of Monsters in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best protection a wolf can offer its pups is to turn them into monsters that no other sane creature will mess with lightly.

It took Kaysarin precisely one week to finish her preparation for leaving, but now she stands on the shore with enough supplies that she could get away with never returning home. While doing her final supply check, she can't help but find herself silently cursing the elders and their stupid political maneuverings. If it wasn't for their pointless meddling, she could've left two days ago.

After waking up on her first day in the past and taking a much-needed bath, she proceeded to put out the signal for intentionally assisted time-travel, then filled out, sealed, and filed away the requisite forms. They're not likely to ever be opened, but they are necessary in case something goes wrong, and the clan needs to mobilize and do damage control. 

All of that took Kaysarin barely till lunch on the first day. The rest of the day, along with the next two, she dedicated to gathering and packing the necessary supplies along with getting the sets of the uniform she used to wear cleaned. If she were left alone for the next two days to meditate, she would've left by now, but no, those pesky elders had to interrupt her with unnecessary meetings.

Shikamaru had had the where with all to ask Kaysarin how she maintained the physical appearance of a woman in her twenties when she was Tsunade's age three days into her stay in Konoha. When she informed him that she could, in fact, not only look but be whatever age she felt, Shikamaru left deep in thought. The next day he showed up to inquire if she would be able to meet Tsunade appearing to be the same age as the Rookie nine would be at that time. She informed him that she could indeed force herself into a thirteen-year-old body again if needed. He then asked her to do it so that she could enter the Chunin Exam as a competitor and hidden trump card against Orochimaru in the forest of death.

It was a good plan seeing as her strength would not be affected nearly as much as everyone else when de-aging. It did, however, mean that she had to write a note to Tsunade, pretending to be her mother asking her to take care of training and looking over her daughter for the time being. If that note also happened to include information on rumors about a possible attack during the Chunin Exam, well, all the better to help them prepare.

Returning to the body of a thirteen-year-old was easy enough for Kaysarin as long as she's given time to concentrate. Time the grouchy old elders insisted on interrupting with pointless meetings. They were upset that she was leaving the island at such a critical time and were doing their best to give her grief for it. It seems as though they believe she would've forgotten their most recent slight against her that for them occurred just last month. If they thought the years she lived would've made her more likely to forgive or forget what they had taken from her, they were sorely mistaken. She had not forgotten, nor did she ever expect to forgive them. Pigs would fly before she forgave them for what they did. There were only two reasons that the elders haven't found themselves buried in shallow graves and those reasons where her mother and twin sister. Without their actions to calm her temper, all Kami would've broken loss when the elders had first pulled their stunt.

Kaysarin was on the edge of murdering the lot of them when her sister had stepped in. Her sister prevented anyone from interrupting her meditation until she finished, while her mother pacified the elders. By the time she left closed-door meditation, the elders were all too happy to have her leave the island for an indeterminate number of years. It was apparent mother took the chance to inform them how close to losing their life they had all come. Her sister wasn't happy but agreed to cover for her while she was gone and said nothing more on the matter.

Now Kaysarin stands, staring out across the ocean in the direction of the elemental countries, traveling pack swung over her shoulder with her sword attached and secured by a second strap around her waist. Usually, she would never carry her sword on her back in a position she couldn't draw it in an emergency. Still, given the speed, she intends to go at and the distance she needs to cover, Kaysarin chose to settle with not using it till she meets up with Tsunade, and they make their way to the leaf. After reaching Konoha, her sword would return to her waste, and when she needed to move fast, she would seal it in the storage seal stitched into the wristband worn on her left arm. For now, however, she should avoid using that method while traveling alone. It would attract too much unwanted attention should she be caught using a seal in that manner.

Kaysarin turns back to look at the village she calls home. There is no one on shore with her to send her off. Her mother hates goodbyes and told her not to get herself killed while away. Her siblings were all busy but had shown up earlier in the day to wish her luck before returning to their jobs. Her father, well, the dead can't send anyone off, now can they.

She turns her back on the land she calls home and swiftly leaps onto the rolling waves, racing off across the ocean towards the place Tsunade had informed her she would find her. Sword and pack over her shoulder and doubly secured by a traveling belt around her waist, she has no trouble accelerating while moving across the rolling ocean as smoothly as of it was flat ground, never once sparing a moment to look back.

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Two weeks, that's how long it took before Team seven came into request a mission from the missions office. Two weeks of living in the Hatake compound and every last member of Team seven was notably different.

Sometime during the first week, there was an incident that involved Naruto and trying to buy groceries that taught the civilians that he was now off-limits. He went out to buy fruits, vegetables, and milk to restock the fridge, and the proprietor of the store tried to sell him expired products and overcharge him, deliberately. Naruto, having none of it left to inform his team about what happened. The next day the store's proprietor learned a lesson that the team was quick to impart on anyone else who tried to pull a similar stunt.

He opened his closet the next morning only to find every garment in it died bright orange. When he met dogs on the street, they would chase him. The cats tried to cough up hairballs on him any time he got close, and someone had convinced the messenger hawks to defecate on him. Add the fact that Kakashi managed to convince, or intimidate, every ninja in the village to boycotting the store, and the proprietor was having a dreadful week. Team seven's message to the rest of the town was unambiguous, picking on Naruto was considered a declaration of war against the whole of Team seven and resulted in severe retaliation.

The civilians learned their lesson well and stopped mistreating Naruto in business transactions, though that did not stop the whispers behind his back. But, Naruto hardly left the compound without the company of a member of his team or Iruka-sensei. They happily directed killing intent at people who spook badly of the blond within their earshot, which did wonders to stop the whispers.

Midway threw the first week, Kakashi managed to destroy and replace Naruto's entire wardrobe conveniently, add to that his new haircut and Naruto was quite striking. All of Naruto's clothes fit correctly and with Kakashi's mandatory three meals a day that the entire team was required to attend, which were also nutritionally balanced by Sakura. Within a week, he was starting to fill out.

Sakura had cut her hair into a bob around the same time Naruto's wardrobe changed, which happened to be the day she found her closet gutted and replaced by her dear sensei. It took only three days of living with people who expected her to act and dress as a shinobi instead of a well-bred lady, and Sakura changed. She was more confident now and regularly chose not to dress up for anyone, decided not to put on makeup, and frequently could be seen in sweats and a plain T-shirt when she was not in her training attire. Living with Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi irrevocably cured her of any fangirl tendencies. When she wasn't training, Sakura was often found running errands or entrenched in the library elbows deep in medical text.

Kakashi put a stop to her dieting phase, and she was, like Naruto, beginning to fill out and build muscle. It was common knowledge now that Team seven ran laps around the village together every morning starting around sunrise and only ending when they would head back to the Hatake compound for breakfast. Less commonly known was that between breakfast and lunch, Team seven worked on weapon accuracy and katas for taijutsu and kenjutsu, which Kakashi had decided to teach all of his students, prompting Sasuke to start carrying around a chokuto. Naruto had chosen to learn how to use a katana, and Kakashi dug up Uzushino katas for him. Sakura decided to work with a tanto. Kakashi elected to switch to using a ninjato instead of picking up a tanto again, but had not taken to wearing it yet. Like Sakura and Naruto, he kept it on his person in a sealing scroll but chose not to wear it till he had a better handle on the weapon.

Lunch was the meal most likely to find Team seven out and about, often taking it at one of the Akimichi restaurants roughly three times a week. Sakura declared that Ichuraku ramen did not count for one of their obligatory three meals a day, but that did not stop Naruto from dragging his team there at least once a week for a snack. Team seven had every third afternoon off, but their other afternoons where spent on the training ground they used for the bell test working on chakra control and building up their reserves, along with trap making skills. The last hour of every afternoon training session is dedicated to an hour-long all out spar between Kakashi and the genin, whose task is to take the bells from him. After the fight ends, they drag themselves back to the compound where Kakashi cooks dinner, and the genin clean up. Much to their significant irritation, they had yet to steal the bells from Kakashi. After dinner was always free time with the only caveat being that they must be home before ten or Kakashi would hunt the offending party down and ground them for three days.

One could no longer find Sasuke brooding alone these days. Mostly because every time he tried, one of his teammates would track him down and refuse to leave. They even took turns on who was to go after him. Less than a week after moving into the Hatake compound, Sasuke gave up on finding time to brood alone and reluctantly let his stubborn teammates into his life. He now took to guarding them against anyone who meant to do them harm. All of his Uchiha protectiveness of their love ones centered around them, and they were now undisputably his precious people and not to be touched unless one wished to provoke 'the last' Uchiha.

The team member who changed the most, though, was undisputably Kakashi. He took to his genin like a mother wolf protecting her pups at the same time he became an alpha wolf protecting his pack. Going after his genin in any form was not to be tolerated, and he tended to put anyone who tried down with extreme prejudice at the same time he trained them each into the ground for the express purpose of making them difficult to take from him. If you were to ask any of the jounin that knew Kakashi well, they would say that after finally being given a genin team that passed his test, the man was more alive. He spent less time at the memorial stone and more time with his team or friends. He started coming a little less late to things and accepting more of Gai's ridiculous challenges. It was now a common sight to see the two enigmatic jounin competing in one way or another, and Kakashi was starting to pull ahead in their competition. Now that he had something to protect, Kakashi began to train like a demon again. When his team had off time, you could offten find Kakashi working on a grueling training regime of his own, save for when his fellow jounin managed to drag him away for a drink.

Kakashi's training had Team seven's abilities improving by leaps and bounds. Their growth was that of monsters, and it inspired their pears into exceptional growth as well. Kurenai, inspired by Kakashi, had somehow managed to find a way to begin making significant headway into fixing her team's personality problems. Not only did she work them to the bone, but she also inforced social hour after their training so that they could all work on being more personable.

Kakashi started his team tree walking within their first week together. When Ino had found out that not only had Sakura managed to do the exercise flawlessly on her first attempt but that she moved onto water walking, she was incensed. Ino ended up bodily dragging both her teammates to bully Asuma-sensei into teaching them tree walking as well. Then, Ino had learned of their enormous progress during training and became a training demon as well. She pestered Asuma-sensei into upping their exercise and was turning into a veritable slave driver to her teammates. Shikamaru took all of his genius and dedicated it to ways to evade Ino until it became an art form, and finding new places to cloud watch without being disturbed. It was doing wonders for his stealth skills, Ino's tracking skills, and both stealth and tracking skills for Choji, who traded which teammate was dragging him around depending on the day.

Gai took his Eternal Rivals team's rapid improvement as a challenge and was running his team ragged so that Kakashi's genin would not surpass his. That, and now that Kakashi was accepting his challenges more readily, he was challenging the man twice as often, and was utterly unconcerned about the fact that his rival was beginning to pull ahead in their score. He had also upped his training regime so ho wouldn't fall behind his Eternal Rivals progress. On the inside, Gai was quite happy. He hadn't seen Kakashi this alive in years, and he was relieved that Kakashi was no longer letting himself waste away.

Still, it wasn't until the fifteenth day of Team seven being together just after lunch that they had shown up at the mission office to request a job, or in their case, jobs. Their arrival surprised all present, not only by the fact they had come but also by the manner they had entered the office and the attire the genin members of Team seven wore. Sometime during their first week as a team and the beginning of Team seven living together at the Hatake compound, it became apparent that the closet of every genin member had met an unfortunate end resulting in each having an abrupt change in fashion sense. If you asked Kakashi about the matter, the only answer he was inclined to give was that it was for the good of the village. What was not known was what the genin would use as mission attire. Kakashi practices had become infamous for resulting in the destruction of clothing attire worn to them, so his team took to wearing cheap and easily replaceable training outfits to them. Hence, until Team seven went on a mission, no one know what they planned on wearing on their missions.

To the great surprise of the chunin staffing the mission desk, the genin members of Team seven showed up in attire not only suitable for being a ninja and lacking the usual loud color scheme of genin but appearing to be a team uniform. The genin members of Team seven all wore matching mesh shirts with three-quarter length sleeves under a standard shinobi t-shirt in the standard jounin blue of Konoha. Shinobi pants of matching color tapped around their ankles, with the addition of fingerless gloves that were an exact match for Kakashi's completed the ensemble. Their personalized T-shirts have 3cm (~1.2in) bands of their favorite color as the border of their left sleeve with their clan symbol on it. Naruto's shirt has an orange trim with a red Uzumaki spiral. Sakura's strip is red with a white ring emblazoned on it while Sasuke's band is of a slightly lighter blue than the rest of the shirt and has the red and white uchiwa fan on it.

The uniform has other personalized touches too. While Naruto and Sasuke had kept the standard shinobi shoes and the usual blue cloth for their headbands, Sakura had taken to wearing boots that went just slightly higher up her calves and changed out the blue fabric of her headband for red. The boys wore theirs around their forehead, while Sakura still opted to use her hitaiate as a headband. All together, Team seven looked far more professional and more like a team than ever. Add to that that they walked into the room in formation, with Sakura taking center, Naruto flanking her on the right and Sasuke on her left, with Kakashi taking up the rear, and they could pass for a well-seasoned team of chunin. Kakashi had worked a miracle, and Iruka decided to mention it. Iruka-sensei was the first to recover from the stunned silence that had taken over the room when Team seven entered. He visibly swallowed his surprise before asking Kakashi weakly, "how did you manage this miracle?"

"Maa," the silver-haired jounin replies to the academy sensei's query, "just the strategic disposal of their old clothes and gifting these as replacements in a show of apology. We'll have three D-ranks, please," Kakashi politely requests while giving the stunned man a happy eye smile while his team accuses him of being a manipulative trolling bastard. He knows they mean it in only the nicest of ways.

After Iruka-sensei collects his jaw from the table, it has fallen onto at the Hatake's blunt response and surprising request, the shocked man splutters, "but it's past noon."

"Yup," Kakashi says, making a point to pop the 'p,' "which is plenty of time for us to finish off three D-ranks," he responds while never losing his happy eye smile.

Iruka looks like he very much wants to protest Team seven's ability to complete three D-ranks before the days end and makes many soundless starts before giving up in the face of Kakashi's imperturbability. Wordlessly he picks out and hands over three D-ranks. The three missions consist of weeding a garden, painting a fence, and repairing a destroyed training ground that, ironically enough, was the result of Team seven's practice yesterday. After looking the missions over, and deeming them acceptable, Kakashi thanks Iruka before motioning to his team, causing them to head out the door without another word leaving several baffled chunin behind.

Team seven reappears a little less than four hours later, to the surprise of all present, to turn in their completed mission scrolls and collect their rewards. Most of the chunin present didn't believe it was possible to finish three D-ranks in such a short period, but Team seven had proved otherwise. Iruka looks like he is sorely tempted to ask how they did it but instead bites his tongue and settles with inviting Naruto out for ramen at Ichurakus as a reward for a job well done. He accepts Team sevens mission reports, and they leave. When he gets off desk duty for the day and goes to meet up with Naruto, he finds that the blond is not alone and instead has dragged his entire team with him.

Iruka ends up having quite an interesting dinner with team seven while Naruto recounts how their missions went. It appears that the reason Team seven was able to finish so fast was due to their strategic use of Naruto's vast chakra reserves and the multi shadow clone jutsu. The training ground repairs went so quickly because of Kakashi's creative use of one of the Hundreds of earth jutsus he copied over the years. By the end of his meal, Iruka found himself quite entertained by Naruto's retelling and the rest of the team's antics, that he was all too happy to pay for all of their ramens. It didn't even cost him more than usual, seeing as Naruto's team somehow managed to limit him to only two bowls.

Another two days passed before Team seven again showed up at the mission office just after lunch to request three more D-ranks. And so it went, having their afternoons off from training replaced with three D-ranks which the team always finished within four hours of taking. It was like clockwork, two days off, then three D-ranks in four hours, before they rinsed and repeated, causing Team seven to burn through D-ranks about as close to the same rate as they were requested.

Team seven only ever received the finding Torra mission once before being summarily banned from it through a unanimous vote on the issue. When they had come back from their three commissions, cat in hand, the pore thing had run straight to its borderline abusive owner like its tail was on fire, leaping into her arms and cowering away from them. Each member of Team seven wore vindictive smiles that were oddly reminiscent of the cat that caught the canary and sent chills down the spines of those behind the mission desk. When Torra had not left the house for a month after the incident too afraid of Team seven being asked to hunt her down, Team seven was black-listed from accepting the mission again.

Team seven's routine of taking three D-ranks every third day continued for a month and a half after they started before something changed. They decided before leaving for the past that Team seven should again take on the wave mission seeing as they would be the most prepared for it. To ensure this occurs, they made sure to set their three-day cycle, so a mission request day would land on the same day they received the mission last time, and when that day came, Kakashi's request changed. It started like the rest of their trips to the mission office. Team seven entered in their formation and stopped in front of whoever was heading the table. Today, like the last time, that person was the Hokage with Iruka-sensei at his side. Things only changed from team seven's usual routine when Kakashi opened his mouth.

"We would like a C-rank today," Kakashi says like it is in no way out of the ordinary, causing Iruka to abruptly stop in his motion of picking out three D-ranks appropriate for Team seven.

"Are you sure," Iruka-sensei manages to stammer past his surprise at the abrupt change. His only answer from Kakashi is a dead-eyed look that conveys the man's disbelief that Iruka doubts his ability to gauge the preparedness of his team. The Hokage uses the two men's distraction to chew thoughtfully on his pipe as he mulls his decision over. "They just became genin," Iruka defends for which he's rewarded a dead-pan look from Kakashi that clearly said, 'that was two and a half months ago.'

The Hokage decides to come to the flustered man's rescue, having reached his decision on the matter and says, "okay," while beginning to look through the C-rank missions in front of him. "As long as you believe your team is ready," the Hokage continues, "I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual," the Hokage details. He's slightly disappointed when he only receives excited looks from the genin instead of his anticipated shouts and speculations on who they will be guarding but forges on regardless. "I'll introduce you to him now," he says before turning to face the door and calling out, "Hey, will you come in here?"

The door opens to reveal the ragged-looking bridge builder with a bottle of alcohol in hand and looking slightly tipsy. "What's this?" he asks once he gets a look at Team seven. "They are all a bunch of stupid brats, especially the shortest one with the stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja?" he inquires.

His remarks earn him heated glares from every member of Team Seven, and Sasuke and Kakashi begin to leak killing intent before the Hokage steps in deescalating the situation. "Team seven has some of our most talented genin, and Kakashi here is one of Konoha's strongest jounin. You are in good hands," the Hokage reassures the man.

The bridge builder doesn't look all that convinced but 'hrmps' in resignation before introducing himself. "I am the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge." After he gives his introduction and tells Team seven the mission details, he asks them to meet him tomorrow morning at the gates so that they can leave for Wave.

Team seven scowls at his retreating back, and Sakura mutters, "that was unpleasant," before Kakashi sighs and ushers his team out of the office. They have preparations to complete for their mission before tomorrow dawns.

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It took Kaysarin precisely one month, twenty-three days, and six hours to track down Tsunade in a small town in Tea country with a single hotel and gambling den while moving at what she dubbed her maximum safe speed. She walked up to the casino's doors only to hear a slot machine going off and decide to wait outside the entrance for Tsunade to come storming out. Sure enough, less than a minute later, Tsunade came flying out the doors muttering about skipping town because she was getting a bad feeling. Shizune was hot on her heels, protesting how winning could give her a bad feeling and carrying tonto in hand.

Kaysarin wasted no time putting herself between Tsunade and her intended destination, causing the startled woman to let out a flood curses as she and Shizune come to an unexpected halt. "Excuse me Tsunade," Kaysarin begins intentionally leaving off the honorifics to gain more of her attention, "I was wondering if you might have the time to grab tea with me? I have a letter from my mom for you, and I have come a great distance to deliver it to you." Kaysarin has been traveling at extraordinarily fast speeds with little rest and looks it, but she holds herself up straight with her shoulders back and looks directly into Tsunade's eyes.

A tick of irritation at having been tracked down, and by a brat no less, begins to form above Tsunade's brow before she takes a deep breath and visibly makes an effort to quell her anger. It is not the brats fault that her mother sent her to track her down, besides the kid looks considerably worse for wear and doesn't deserve her ire. Tsunade sighs before offering, "you make that a glass of sake and pay the bill, then you have yourself a deal, and I will look over the letter from your mom."

Shizune looks about ready to protest, bringing a girl, who is undoubtedly a minor into a bar without her guardian's approval, when a brilliant smile spreads across Kaysarin's face and causes the words to die in her throat. She dutifully follows Tsunade and the travel-worn girl to the nearest drinking establishment, shooting inquisitive glances at the girl the whole way trying to get a read on her. At the entrance to the store, Tsunade instructs Shizune to head back to their room and begin packing so that they can leave tonight before walking through the door with the young girl in tow. Shizune spends a second to look dumbly at the closed doors before moving to do as Tsunade instructed.

The remaining two find a booth in an unoccupied corner of the establishment and wait for the waiter to come to take their order, sake for Tsunade and mint tea for Kaysarin, and drop off their drinks before they begin. "So, where's this letter, brat?" Tsunade demands. Wordlessly, Kaysarin reaches into her pack that she set down beside her and pulls out the letter she wrote before leaving the island and hands it over. She then returns to sipping her tea worshipping the felling of the warm, refreshing drink, making its way down her throat. Tsunade eyes her action curiously going so far as to raise an eyebrow but chose not to comment on Kaysarin's actions and return her attention to the letter. Breaking the seal, Tsunade begins to read, and the further down the message she gets, the higher her eyebrows rise. She begins to occasionally shoot glances at Kaysarin, who is completely preoccupied with her beverage. Tsunade chose to finish the missive before saying anything, and when she eventually reaches the end of the letter, she wordlessly rolls it up and places it on the table in between them.

She rests her elbows on the table and steeples her fingers, leaning forward to study Kaysarin more closely. After a minute of this silent study, which Kaysarin does not react to, Tsunade leans back, picks up her sake, and swirls it lazily before asking, "are the words in this letter true?"

Kaysarin locks eyes with Tsunade tiredly and doing her best to give her a baleful look in her exhausted state before remarking dryly, "I imagine they are. My mother is not in the habit of telling lies." Kaysarin studies Tsunade carefully before straightening up to the best of her ability in her worn-out state, "and that is why I need you to **Wake Up** ," while flaring her chakra and putting emphasis on the last two words. There is a slight crack, and the seal holding Tsunade's memories back breaks, causing her to blink rapidly as the unleashed memories flood her mind.

She manages to refocus her gaze on Kaysarin, who has returned to her study of her half-finished tea, before muttering, "Kaysarin?" Her eyes narrow further as she takes in her drinking companions state while Kaysarin finishes her drink, "why do you look like death warmed over?"

Kaysarin looks back up to meet the other women's eyes, setting her empty cup aside and giving Tsunade a tired smile. "Well, I've only been running at my maximum safe speed for a little more than a month and a half," she remarks wryly, "so, I'm not sure why you would say that." Tsunade's eyes narrow further in disapproval, and Kaysarin tries to distract her by asking, "do you think it would be best if I start calling you oba-san?"

Tsunade, not distracted or slightly amused by Kaysarins quip, scowls before berating Kaysarin on how she needs to take better care of herself, which Kaysarin weathers admirably. Noticing her words do not affect Kaysarin, and that she looks entirely unrepentant. Tsunade lets out another long sigh before giving up on getting through to the stubborn woman at the moment. "Fine, you call me Oba-san," Tsunade relents causing Kaysarin to grin at her in victory, "but from now on you're my responsibility and you will listen to me when I tell you to do something," Tsunade finishes causing the smile to drop from Kaysarins lips replaced by a frown. It's Tsande's turn to smile before she continues victoriously, "we will head out tomorrow, but first," she says, reaching over the table with a hand glowing green, which she rests against Kaysarins forehead, "go to sleep." Kaysarin's eyes flutter closed, and she slumps bonelessly forward onto the table in front of her.

Tsunade calls the waiter over and pays for her untouched sake and Kaysarin's drink before tucking the letter securely in an inside pocket. She gathers Kaysarin's belongings, throwing them over her shoulder before effortlessly extracting Kaysarn from the booth, and settling her head against her shoulder as she carries her bridal style out the door and to her hotel room. "Change of plans," she tells Shizune as she enters the room and settles Kaysarin onto the nearest bed. "We rest till Kaysarin wakes then head to Konoha by the fastest route that will take us over the Bay of fire, through the land of waves, before we reach the Land of fire and make the rest of our way on foot."

Shizune, startled by her mentor's sudden change of plans and desire to return to Konoha when she had previously sworn never to step foot their again, stops what she is doing to take in Tsunade's expression and the girl on the bed. She sets the things in her hands down before moving over to Kaysarin to run a medical check of her own on the girl. What she finds causes her to scrunch her face up, but she does not comment on the physical exhaustion present or the girl's low chakra levels. She returns her gaze to her mentor, who is settling herself in the rooms only available chair to watch the resting child, and ask only, "Who's Kaysarin and what was in the letter?"

"The child of an old friend who has asked me to look after her for the foreseeable future, and nothing good," Tsunade answers. If Shizune's learned anything from years of traveling with Tsunade, it's that there are moments when it's better not to ask.

In the end, Kaysarin sleeps for two days straight before waking. Once she is up, the three women pack their bags, check out of the hotel, before leaving town, and beginning the long trek to Konoha.


	7. A Mission to Waze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Facing down A-rank shinobi and other extreme sports.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, but this chapter has been giving me a lot of trouble, and the pandemic has kept me busy. Due to how I was forced to construct this chapter, which was in pieces that came to me in no particular order over the past few months, it may come out slightly choppy. If you believe you might have an idea on how to fix that please inform me and I will consider it. It is also not quite finished yet, but I will get to it as soon as I find what notebook I wrote the end in.

Team Seven leaves the Hatake compound for the massive gates of Konoha early in the morning to meet up with Tazuna. Seeing as how they all leave the compound together, they arrive at the gates together, which has the unintended consequence of making Kakashi early. To the amusement of most of Konoha's Jounin population, Kakashi's choice to cohabitate with his team makes it incredibly difficult for him to arrive late to team events because his team has taken to forcibly dragging him with them when they leave. While this did not stop him from being late to non-team function, it did mean that when he arrived with his team, the bridge builder was not there, and they are forced to wait.

When Tazuna arrives nearly thirty minutes later, it is with an open bottle of alcohol that he promptly takes a swig from. Kakashi sighs while taking in the slightly inebriated form of their client but snaps his book closed anyways before declaring, "Now that everyone is here let's hit the road," before he begins trudging down the road towards Waze without a backward glance.

Naruto, who can sense the two Kiri-nin watching them from a distance, whops in excitement while pumping his fist in the air as a discreet signal to his team that there are watchers present, and giving off all the presence of a genin leaving on his first out of village mission. Sasuke sticks to his role as the team resident stick in the mud by grouching at the overexcited blond, "What are you so excited about?" as they head out down the road away from the Konoha gates.

"I've never left the village before," Naruto admits half truthfully, seeing how at this age, that statement is true without losing the bounce in his step.

"Hey," Tazuna shouts at Kakashi, who has stuck his nose back in his book to get the Jounin's attention, "Am I going to be safe with this brat?"

Kakashi stops mid-step to glare balefully over his shoulder, "I'm one of Konoha's top Jounin, and my team is one of the best. I would suggest that you avoid douting us." His response, though given in a board draw, sends a shiver down the bridge builder's spine.

Naruto is still pouting offended that his skills are supposedly in dought. Sakura and Sasuke have to bite down on the killing intent trying to rise to the surface when Naruto bursts at the edges with manufactured frustration, shouts, "Hey old man! Don't mess with ninja. We might be young now, but one day my team and I will stand at the top of the shinobi world, just wait and see," while pointing an accusatory finger at Tazuna.

"You bet we will," Sakura confirms while cracking her knuckles menacingly, and Sasuke nods his confirmation with all the certainty that only one with Uchiha pride can accomplish.

Tazuna seems mildly intimidated before taking another swig of his drink and snorting derisively, "Brats like you. I highly doubt it."

Kakashi moves swiftly to prevent Naruto and Sakura from pummeling the man but hisses in his ear as he passes, "continue to doubt my team, and you will regret it," before moving to his genin that are leaking for more killing intent towards their client than they should be.

Conversation dies after the minor altercation, and the remainder of the morning's journey is spent almost entirely in silence. Then Team Seven spots the puddle on a sunny day after it has not rained for days. 'Fake-Out' Kakahi signals as they pass the puddle, indicating he plans to let the two chunin believe they got him and check for any other observers. 'Gaurd' Sakura answers knowing that in the unlikely event the enemy chunin from Kiri make it past her teammates, she is the best candidate to put distance between the attaching nin and their client seeing as how it would only take her one well-placed kick. She receives a sutle nod of confirmation from the rest of the team before the Kiri-nin emerge from the puddle, and Kakashi pretends to get caught.

The similarities to the last time the two attach end there as both Sasuke and Naruto immediately jump into action and Sakura moves to cover Tazuna. Before the two have the chance to move on from their supposedly successful attack on their sensei, Sasuke has disabled the use of their chain, and Naruto with ten of his clones to back him up are closing in on their position. It takes less than thirty seconds before both Naruto and Sasuke have a chunin pinned under their sandals, and Kakashi has reappeared to eye-smile menacingly at them.

Once Kakashi has the two nuisances trussed and pinned to a tree, he turns his truly frightening smile on Tazuna before asking, "Care to explain?"

"Explain what!?" Tazuna tries to retort angrily, but it is ruined by his gulp of fear when he meats Kakashi's eye, and the blood that is draining rapidly from his face.

Kakashi points a carless yet accusatory finger at the Kiri-nin as he replies, "They were after you, not my team. Hence, I would like an explanation for why this C-rank mission just became a B-rank," he replies pointedly.

If possible, Tazuna goes even whiter before jumping into his explanation on Gato's reign of terror in the country of Waze. The four Konoha ninja listen intently to the account looking for any variance from the last time they heard it, and are satisfied when they hear none. However, when Tazuna goes to guilt-trip the team, he is cut off almost immediately by Kakashi asking frostily, "Who said we would leave to finish the journey to Waze on your own and undoubtedly get yourself killed? You might be an ill-tempered drunken bastard who could have easily gotten several people killed by lying on your mission request, but when my team and I took this mission, we made a promise that we would get you home safely and protect you until the bridge is built. Like it or not, that is a promise my team and I intend to keep because if we don't, and you get yourself killed, it reflects poorly on us, and on our village, and I am not about to let that happen."

"Damn straight, Sensei!" Naruto affirms while glaring down their client, "I always keep my promises because that is my shinobi way. Besides, we would've ended up on a B-rank eventual. It just happened to occur sooner rather than later."

Kakashi ruffles the blonds hair affectionately to muffled protest while Sasuke grunts his agreement, earning himself a smack to the back of the head from Sakura, who half hardly scolds the two of them saying, "You both know it doesn't work that way. We are supposed to make our way up to B-ranks after completing a few C-ranks."

When Kakashi lets go of Naruto's head, the scolding devolves into bickering as Naruto and Sasuke both try to protest the need for C-ranks before B-ranks and Sakura stand's her ground. This leads the three to wrestle on the ground like pups, causing Kakashi to sigh in a mixture of exasperation and amusement at their antics, before turning to ask a still stunned Tazuna who's mouth is gaping like a fish, "Are my Gennin not just the cutest you have ever seen?"

Tazuna jaw works wordlessly as he tries to comprehend what just happened before taking a fortifying swig from his bottle. He manages to reply, "yup cute, that's what I'd call them," before hiccuping and passing out, bringing the playful tussle to a halt as Sakura removes herself to check on their client. It appears to be a mild case of shock coupled with the alcohol in his blood; he will be fine when he wakes in an hour or two. Kakashi sums Pakkun to run a message to the Hokage about the two captured ninja and the rise in difficulty to a B-rank along with his belief that his team can still manage the mission before he hefts Tazuna over his shoulder and the group continues on their journey to Waze.

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Gato storms into the room Zabuza is staying in with the accusation already falling from his tongue. "You failed," he says while pointing an accusatory finger at Zabuza, "I spent a lot of money to hire you because I heard you were all skilled ninja!" 

He breaths in as if to continue his tirade but is cut off by the massive blade Zabuza levels at him, "Stop your bitching!" he complains, "this time I will go with the Head Slicing Kleaver..." he pauses for dramatic effect as Gato sweats at the tip of his blade before finishing, "and kill them."

"Are you sure," Gato Questions without taking his eyes off the blade leveled at him, "It seems the enemy has hired some skilled ninjas, and with the failure of the demon brothers, they will be more cautious."

"Who do you think I am?" Zabuza questions with narrowed eyes, "There's a reason I am called the devil of the hidden mist, Momochi Zabuza."

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The Hokage dismisses Pakkun with a wave of a hand as he takes the note from Kakashi. Not even a day in and the mission has already risen in difficulty. It makes him wonder if there is a curse on every team labeled _'Team Seven.'_ He decides to trust Kakashi's choice to continue the mission, knowing full well that the man is fully capable of completing an A-rank on his own. That does not stop him from summoning his Anbu and demanding someone go gather the bound nin at their proverbial doorstep and set Ibiki on them. He wants answers about Gato and how dangerous he might be, and he wants them now.

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"Sensei, what's wrong?" Naruto inquires halfway through their third day on their trip to Waze as they trudge through the mist towards the boatmen that awaits them on shore.

"Maa, Maa, nothings wrong, Naruto," Kakashi denies, "why would you think something is wrong?" he asks before another sigh escapes his lips. 

"Sensei, that is the fifth time you have sighed in the last eight minutes," Sakura informs him, "something is wrong." 

"Hn," Sasuke agrees. 

"Nothing is wrong," Kakashi repeats a touch more firmly to incredulous looks from his Gennin, which causes him to sigh again before admitting, "just thinking about the last time I faced him." No one needs clarification on who the 'him' in the statement is. 

That seems to stump his team on what to say for a short time as they puzzle out Kakashi's words. He is beginning to think he managed to dodge the Kunai when Naruto's fist meets his palm, and an expression of comprehension graces his features. 'Of course, Naruto would be the first to figure it out,' he thinks bitterly at being caught out by his team. 

"The last time you faced him was during the war," Naruto states aloud for the benefit of his teammates, "and you didn't do it alone." 

Kakashi's shoulders slump in defeat as recognition appears on the faces of his other Gennin. He loves his pups, honestly, but sometimes he can't help but wish they did not know him as well as they do. 

However, it is not Sakura who strikes the heart of the matter as he expected her too, but Sasuke, with a look of mild incredulity adorning his face as he exclaims, "you miss Gai!?" 

Kakashi is not in the mood to unpack his... thing? With Gai, so he quickens his pace slightly as he begins to see the shore through the mist, "I can see our boat just ahead," he informs his team, "so this conversation must wait for later," he announces. 

The faces that greet his pronouncement show exactly how unimpressed his team is with his avoidance of the issue, but they let it lie and go along with his feeble distraction. The look they give before moving on from the topic informs him that whether he likes it or not, they will be unpacking it later, but right now, he lets his mind return to the upcoming confrontation with an A-rank missing-nin. 

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Kaysarin drops back from her position in the group's head to Tsunade's place at the back the same as she has done, during their entire journey when it nears time for a break in the run to Konoha. Any observer would presume the move was to consult about where to stop for the upcoming break. They would be wrong.

"Are they still following us?" Tsunade inquires of her friend.

"Yes," Kaysarin reports tersely, "same as the past five days."

"Have you been able to make a positive identification of our shadows?" Tsunade asks.

"No, but not for lack of trying," Kaysarin answers. "Their chakra is muddied and gives off an eerie lack of emotion indicative of Danzo's root shinobi. By the feel of their chakra," Kaysarin grits her teeth in a mix of anger and anguish at the damage done to those currently following them and her inability to help them, "they are beyond saving."

Tsunade grimaces but nods her acknowledgment of Kaysarin's assessment. "We are getting too near Konoha to leave them as they are. I know you have managed to subtly cut off communication between them and Danzo, but any closer and we run the risk of one of them splitting off the pursuit without our notice to inform Danzo of my prospective return to Konoha in person."

"Which would be unfortunate because we are hoping to keep your arrival silent until after Orochimaru has made his appearance," Kaysarin assess, "and we both know that they are most likely still in communication."

"Then we have no choice," Tsunade says grimly, "we must confront them and eliminate them before news of my return can be spread. There should be a suitable clearing ahead. I will inform Shizune and then take over as point."

When they arrive in the clearing, Kaysarin appears to go gather firewood as Tsunade and Shizune stay behind to secure camp. Once Kaysarin is out of sight and in what will appear to the root shinobi as out of harm's way, Tsunade calls out as Shizune and her subtly prepare for battle, "I do not appreciate being followed." For a fraction of a second, there is stillness then, seven of the eight pursuing root nin attack, while eight unknowingly makes its way into Kaysarins waiting trap.

The fight is over in an instant with Shizune having taken two of the opposing nin out with lethal poison while Tsunade swiftly dispatches the other attackers without spilling a single drop of blood. She is not a member of Konoha's Sanin for nothing, nor has she lived through the wars for nothing. None of them stood a chance. Kaysarin emerges from the tree line with the body of the last member of their shadow, and none of them speak as she makes quick work of disposing of the bodies.

They are silent for a minute before Shizune asks, "so which one of you would like to explain why the woman I vaguely remember referring to as Kay-Oba-San is disguised as her own kid? Why she has joined us in an unprecedented return to Konoha, and why fake Anbu just tried to kill us when they were discovered following us?"

Kaysarin's and Tsunade's eyes meet, and after a flash of wordless communication, Kaysarin laughs. "I hate to say this," this Kaysarin says once she has overcome her burst of laughter, "but I was right. Nice to remake your acquaintance Shizune-chan, I'm certain Tsunade will be perfectly happy to explain everything while I hunt down lunch. Once we've eaten, and you are caught up, we will need to put on a burst of speed if we are to make it on time." With that said, she turns around, giving a careless wave over her shoulder as she heads into the forest, leaving Tsunade to fend for herself.

Shizune turns to face Tsunade with an animalistic smile before demanding, "Shishu, explain," and Tsunade knowing better than to protest does.

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End file.
